Sufi parable from Rumi Once upon a time there was a great fashion for tattoos in Qazvin. People carved images of leopards, panthers and other powerful animals on their arms, shoulders and backs. A certain bathhouse attendant performed these tattoos, and one day a Kazvin resident came to him and said that he wanted to decorate himself with a design.
- What should I prick on you and where? - asked the bathhouse attendant.
“Adorn my flesh with the image of the king of beasts,” answered the customer. “I was born under the constellation Leo and now, with your help, I want to turn into a lion myself, so don’t be stingy with your blue paint, bathhouse attendant!”
- Where should I do the pricking anyway? - the bathhouse attendant did not let up.
“Poke out a lion on my back, and I will be brave and resilient like a lion, both at the feast and on the battlefield.”
When the bathhouse attendant stuck his first needle into the back of the Qazvin resident, he shuddered and screamed in pain:
- What are you injecting there, bathhouse attendant?
“I’m portraying a lion, just as you wanted,” answered the bathhouse attendant.
- Which part of the lion did you start his image from? - asked the Kazvin resident.
“From the tail,” was the answer.
Then the Kazvin man said:
- Start with the more essential parts of the lion. My lion can do without a tail.
After listening to him, the bath attendant again stuck his needle into his back.
- Now what are you doing? - the Kazvinian asked again.
“Now I’m pretending to be a lion’s ear,” answered the bathhouse attendant.
“My lion doesn’t need hearing; I myself will listen for him.” “And if you don’t need hearing, then you don’t need an ear,” the Kazvin man cried out, and when the next needle pierced his back, he asked in despair:
- What are you doing now? Why does it hurt me so much?
“I’m pricking out the lion’s belly, half of it is already ready,” answered the bathhouse attendant.
- Why does someone who will never eat anything need a belly? - the Kazvinian howled.
At this point the bathhouse attendant lost his temper.
- Where did you see the king of beasts without a tail, without an ear and without a belly? The Lord has not yet created such monsters. You, apparently, are simply unable to endure pain, but it is not in my power to relieve you of that pain, without which it is impossible to apply any pattern! - he said.
If a person has firmly decided to go towards his goal, he should accustom his body to injections and deprivations.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru