A philosopher walked by the mosque as this verse was being recited: If I stop the water from the spring, who shall bring water into the spring again apart from Me?
The philosopher scoffed. "We could just get shovels and axes and dig up the water ourselves."
In the night, an angel appeared and struck the philosopher, blinding him. "Wretched man! See if you can use an axe and a shovel to restore light to your eyes from the spring of vision."
In the morning, the philosopher awoke. He could no longer see.
He begged forgiveness.
The light was restored.
Inspired by: The English prose version of Rumi in Tales from the Masnavi by A. J. Arberry.
Notes: This is story 38 in the book. In Rumi's version, the story ends with the philosopher being blind, but then Rumi adds that if the man had asked God's forgiveness, his sight would be restored, so I included that in the story.
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