In Book 2 of the *Masnavi*, Rumi uses the allegory of a thirsty man atop a high dirt wall next to a stream. The wall symbolizes the ego, the physical body, and worldly attachments that separate the spiritual seeker from divine grace, represented by the water. The man tears clods of earth from the wall and throws them into the stream, yielding two spiritual benefits. First, the resulting splash creates a sound that brings him spiritual ecstasy (*samā��*), akin to the life-giving trumpet of Israfil. Second, every clod removed physically lowers the barrier. This illustrates that actively and gradually dismantling the ego is necessary to ultimately reach and merge with the divine.

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بر لب جو بوده دیواری بلند 
بر سر دیوار تشنهٔ دردمند
مانعش از آب آن دیوار بود 
از پی آب او چو ماهی زار بود
ناگهان انداخت او خشتی در آب 
بانگ آب آمد به گوشش چون خطاب
چون خطاب یار شیرین لذیذ 
مست کرد آن بانگ آبش چون نبیذ
از صفای بانگ آب آن ممتحن 
گشت خشت‌انداز از آنجا خشت‌کن
آب می‌زد بانگ یعنی هی ترا 
فایده چه زین زدن خشتی مرا
تشنه گفت آبا مرا دو فایده‌ست 
من ازین صنعت ندارم هیچ دست
فایدهٔ اول سماع بانگ آب 
کو بود مر تشنگان را چون رباب
بانگ او چون بانگ اسرافیل شد 
مرده را زین زندگی تحویل شد
یا چو بانگ رعد ایام بهار 
باغ می‌یابد ازو چندین نگار
یا چو بر درویش ایام زکات 
یا چو بر محبوس پیغام نجات
چون دم رحمان بود کان از یمن 
می‌رسد سوی محمد بی دهن
یا چو بوی احمد مرسل بود 
کان به عاصی در شفاعت می‌رسد
یا چو بوی یوسف خوب لطیف 
می‌زند بر جان یعقوب نحیف
فایدهٔ دیگر که هر خشتی کزین 
بر کنم آیم سوی ماء معین
کز کمی خشت دیوار بلند 
پست‌تر گردد بهر دفعه که کند
پستی دیوار قربی می‌شود 
فصل او درمان وصلی می‌بود
سجده آمد کندن خشت لزب 
موجب قربی که واسجد واقترب
تا که این دیوار عالی‌گردنست 
مانع این سر فرود آوردنست
سجده نتوان کرد بر آب حیات 
تا نیابم زین تن خاکی نجات
بر سر دیوار هر کو تشنه‌تر 
زودتر بر می‌کند خشت و مدر
هر که عاشقتر بود بر بانگ آب 
او کلوخ زفت‌تر کند از حجاب
او ز بانگ آب پر می تا عنق 
نشنود بیگانه جز بانگ بلق
ای خنک آن را که او ایام پیش 
مغتنم دارد گزارد وام خویش
اندر آن ایام کش قدرت بود 
صحت و زور دل و قوت بود
وان جوانی همچو باغ سبز و تر 
می‌رساند بی دریغی بار و بر
چشمه‌های قوت و شهوت روان 
سبز می‌گردد زمین تن بدان
خانهٔ معمور و سقفش بس بلند 
معتدل ارکان و بی تخلیط و بند
پیش از آن کایام پیری در رسد 
گردنت بندد به حبل من مسد
خاک شوره گردد و ریزان و سست 
هرگز از شوره نبات خوش نرست
آب زور و آب شهوت منقطع 
او ز خویش و دیگران نا منتفع
ابروان چون پالدم زیر آمده 
چشم را نم آمده تاری شده
از تشنج رو چو پشت سوسمار 
رفته نطق و طعم و دندانها ز کار
روز بیگه لاشه لنگ و ره دراز 
کارگه ویران عمل رفته ز ساز
بیخهای خوی بد محکم شده 
قوت بر کندن آن کم شده

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## English translation
On the bank of a stream there was a high wall, and on top of the wall a suffering thirsty man. That wall barred him from the water; for the sake of water he was miserable like a fish. Suddenly he threw a brick into the water; the sound of the water reached his ear like an address. Like the sweet, delightful address of the beloved, that sound of water made him drunk like wine. From the clarity of the water's sound, that tested one changed from a brick-thrower into a brick-digger. The water cried out, as if saying: Hey you, what benefit is there for you in striking me with a brick? The thirsty man said: O water, I have two benefits; I have no way to stop myself from this craft. The first benefit is hearing the sound of the water, which is like a rabab to the thirsty. Its sound became like the trumpet of Israfil: by it the dead were transformed into life. Or like the thunder of spring days, from which the garden gains so many adornments. Or like the days of zakat for a dervish, or like a message of deliverance for a prisoner. Like the breath of the Merciful, which from Yemen reaches Muhammad without a mouth. Or like the scent of Ahmad the Messenger, which reaches a sinner in intercession. Or like the scent of fair, subtle Joseph, striking the soul of frail Jacob. The other benefit is that every brick I remove from here brings me toward running clear water. For from the wall's losing bricks, the high wall becomes lower each time one removes them. The lowering of the wall becomes nearness; separating from it is the remedy for union. Digging out the sticky clay-brick is prostration, the cause of nearness, for 'prostrate and draw near.' As long as this high-necked wall stands, it prevents this head from being lowered. One cannot prostrate before the water of life until I gain release from this body of clay. Whoever is thirstier atop the wall tears out brick and clod more quickly. Whoever is more in love with the sound of water removes a larger clod from the veil. He is filled with wine up to the throat from the sound of water; the stranger hears nothing but the frog's cry. Blessed is the one who, in earlier days, takes the opportunity and pays his debt: in the days when he has power, health, heart-strength, and force, and when youth, like a green fresh garden, gives fruit and produce unstintingly. The springs of strength and desire are flowing; the soil of the body grows green through them. The house is well built, its roof very high, its elements balanced and without disorder or obstruction. Before the days of old age arrive and bind your neck with a rope of palm fiber; the soil becomes salty, crumbling, and weak. No sweet plant ever grew from salty soil. The water of strength and the water of desire are cut off; he benefits neither himself nor others. The eyebrows have drooped down like a saddle-pad; moisture comes to the eye and it grows dim. From contraction, the face is like a lizard's back; speech, taste, and teeth have gone out of use. The day is late, the carcass lame, the road long; the workshop ruined, action gone out of order. The roots of bad habit have grown firm; the strength to uproot them has diminished.

دفتر دوم - بخش ۲۵ - کلوخ انداختن تشنه از سر دیوار در جوی آب / Book Two - Section 25 - The Thirsty Man Throwing a Clod from the Top of the Wall into the Stream of Water

In Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the metaphor of thirst (*tashnagi*) represents the active spiritual longing and preparation required to receive divine grace, which is symbolized by water. Rumi famously advises seekers to 'seek less water and acquire thirst, so that water may gush from above and below.' Within this spiritual framework, cultivating an intense, conscious state of thirst—representing profound inner desire and awareness of one's own emptiness—is the prerequisite for the manifestation of divine sustenance, as divine abundance flows naturally toward genuine spiritual longing.

The Metaphor of Spiritual Thirst (Tashnagi) in the Masnavi

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دفتر دوم - بخش ۲۶ - فرمودن والی آن مرد را کی این خاربن را کی نشانده‌ای بر سر راه بر کن / Book Two — Section 26 — The Governor Commanding That Man Who Planted a Thorn-Bush in the Road to Uproot It

The Allegory of the Thirsty Man and the Wall of Ego in the Masnavi

In Book 3 of the Masnavi, Rumi employs the metaphor of a dropsical patient (mustasqi) to describe the lover's unquenchable spiritual thirst. A person suffering from dropsy has an intense craving for water, even though drinking it worsens their condition and may lead to death. The lover compares himself to this patient, telling his reprovers that his desire for the Beloved is so overpowering that he welcomes destruction. This metaphor illustrates how true spiritual love overrides the instinct for self-preservation, driving the seeker to willingly face annihilation for the sake of union.

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