In Rumi's Masnavi (Book III, Section 208), the story of the foal shying away from drinking water due to the grooms' whistling and shouting serves as a profound spiritual allegory. 

In this metaphor, the life-giving water represents divine truth, spiritual sustenance, or the pursuit of self-improvement. The grooms' disruptive noises represent the superficial distractions, unfounded criticisms, and meaningless chatter of worldly or ignorant people. The mother horse's advice to her foal—to ignore the noise and drink before the water is gone—emphasizes the fleeting nature of spiritual opportunities. 

Rumi uses this narrative to instruct the spiritual seeker: one must remain focused on one's own spiritual nourishment and inner work, resolutely ignoring the deterrence or mockery of the general public. Giving in to the fear of societal noise only leads to spiritual dehydration and missed opportunities.

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## Original content
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آنک فرمودست او اندر خطاب 
کره و مادر همی‌خوردند آب
می‌شخولیدند هر دم آن نفر 
بهر اسپان که هلا هین آب خور
آن شخولیدن به کره می‌رسید 
سر همی بر داشت و از خور می‌رمید
مادرش پرسید کای کره چرا 
می‌رمی هر ساعتی زین استقا
گفت کره می‌شخولند این گروه 
ز اتفاق بانگشان دارم شکوه
پس دلم می‌لرزد از جا می‌رود 
ز اتفاق نعره خوفم می‌رسد
گفت مادر تا جهان بودست ازین 
کارافزایان بدند اندر زمین
هین تو کار خویش کن ای ارجمند 
زود کایشان ریش خود بر می‌کنند
وقت تنگ و می‌رود آب فراخ 
پیش از آن کز هجر گردی شاخ شاخ
شهره کاریزیست پر آب حیات 
آب کش تا بر دمد از تو نبات
آب خضر از جوی نطق اولیا 
می‌خوریم ای تشنهٔ غافل بیا
گر نبینی آب کورانه بفن 
سوی جو آور سبو در جوی زن
چون شنیدی کاندرین جو آب هست 
کور را تقلید باید کار بست
جو فرو بر مشک آب‌اندیش را 
تا گران بینی تو مشک خویش را
چون گران دیدی شوی تو مستدل 
رست از تقلید خشک آنگاه دل
گر نبیند کور آب جو عیان 
لیک داند چون سبو بیند گران
که ز جو اندر سبو آبی برفت 
کین سبک بود و گران شد ز آب و زفت
زانک هر بادی مرا در می‌ربود 
باد می‌نربایدم ثقلم فزود
مر سفیهان را رباید هر هوا 
زانک نبودشان گرانی قوی
کشتی بی‌لنگر آمد مرد شر 
که ز باد کژ نیابد او حذر
لنگر عقلست عاقل را امان 
لنگری در یوزه کن از عاقلان
او مددهای خرد چون در ربود 
از خزینه در آن دریای جود
زین چنین امداد دل پر فن شود 
بجهد از دل چشم هم روشن شود
زانک نور از دل برین دیده نشست 
تا چو دل شد دیدهٔ تو عاطلست
دل چو بر انوار عقلی نیز زد 
زان نصیبی هم بدو دیده دهد
پس بدان کاب مبارک ز آسمان 
وحی دلها باشد و صدق بیان
ما چو آن کره هم آب جو خوریم 
سوی آن وسواس طاعن ننگریم
پی‌رو پیغمبرانی ره سپر 
طعنهٔ خلقان همه بادی شمر
آن خداوندان که ره طی کرده‌اند 
گوش فا بانگ سگان کی کرده‌اند

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## English translation
He who commanded in address —
A foal and its mother were drinking water.

Those men were shouting every moment
For the horses: "Hey, come now, drink the water!"

That shouting reached the foal —
It kept raising its head and shying from drinking.

Its mother asked: "O foal, why
Do you shy away every moment from this watering?"

The foal said: "These people keep shouting —
I am troubled by the unison of their cries."

"So my heart trembles and is displaced —
From the unison of their cries, fear comes to me."

The mother said: "Since the world has been,
There have been meddlers upon the earth.

Come, do your own work, O honored one —
Soon they will be tearing out their own beards.

Time is short and the water flows abundant —
Before separation breaks you branch from branch,

There is a famous spring full of the water of life —
Draw the water so that herbage may spring from you.

The water of Khidr flows from the stream of the speech of the saints —
We drink from it; O thirsty, heedless one, come!

If you cannot see the water, blindly by craft
Bring a jug to the stream, plunge it into the stream.

Since you have heard that in this stream there is water,
The blind must put imitation (taqlīd) to work.

Lower the water-seeking skin into the stream
So that you find your own skin heavy.

When you find it heavy, you become one who reasons by proof —
Then the heart is freed from dry imitation.

If the blind man cannot see the stream's water plainly,
Yet he knows, when he finds the jug heavy,

That water has gone from the stream into the jug —
For it was light and became heavy and full from the water.

"Because every wind used to carry me away,
The wind no longer carries me — my weight has increased."

Every wind carries away the foolish,
Because they had no strong weight.

The wicked man is a ship without anchor —
He finds no shelter from the crooked wind.

The anchor is reason — safety for the wise.
Beg an anchor from the wise.

When he drew in the aids of reason
From the treasury into that sea of generosity,

From such aid the heart becomes full of skill —
From the heart the eye too springs forth brightened.

For the light from the heart settled upon this eye —
So when the heart is gone, your sight lies idle.

When the heart strikes upon the lights of intellect as well,
It gives the eye a share of that too.

So know that the blessed water from heaven
Is the revelation of hearts and the truthfulness of speech.

Like that foal, let us too drink from the stream —
We shall not look toward that whispering taunter.

As a follower of the prophets, tread the path —
Count all the taunts of the people as wind.

Those masters who have traversed the path —
When have they ever lent an ear to the barking of dogs?

دفتر سوم - بخش ۲۰۸ - مثل زدن در رمیدن کرهٔ اسپ از آب خوردن به سبب شخولیدن سایسان / Book Three - Section 208 - Giving an Example of the Foal Shying from Drinking Water Due to the Grooms' Shouting

In Book 3, Section 207 of the Masnavi, Rumi strongly responds to critics who dismiss his poetry as mere fables or superficial tales. He draws a direct parallel between their taunts and the historical rejection of the Quran by disbelievers who labeled it as 'tales of the ancients.' Rumi argues that his work carries profound spiritual truths that offer life to the soul. By comparing his detractors to barking dogs, he emphasizes that their inability to perceive the Masnavi's deeper meaning is a reflection of their own spiritual blindness and deficient understanding, rather than any flaw within the text itself.

Rumi's Defense of the Masnavi Against Detractors

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