M1:2711 — آب بارانست ما را در سبو / ملکت و سرمایه و اسباب تو

这节诗出自一个寓言故事：一位生活在沙漠深处的贝都因人，以为繁华的都城巴格达也像他家乡一样缺水。他的妻子鼓励他，将他们瓦罐里珍藏的雨水作为最珍贵的礼物，献给哈里发。

妻子的这番话——“那就是你的王国、你的资本、你的一切”（ملکت و سرمایه و اسباب تو）——强调了这份礼物的价值。从物质上看，这罐水确实是他们在贫瘠沙漠中所拥有的最宝贵的东西。然而，从精神层面看，它代表了他们纯粹的诚意和奉献。他们献出的是自己的“全部”，是他们认知范围内最稀有、最美好的事物。这份礼物的价值不在于它本身的客观属性（在水源丰富的巴格达，这水毫无价值），而在于奉献者那份全然付出的心。

鲁米借此故事巧妙地设喻。那瓦罐（سبو）象征着我们有限的肉身，而罐中之水则象征着我们通过感官（حواس）获得的、充满尘世杂质的知识与体验。我们将这些自以为宝贵的“雨水”献给无限如海的真主（哈里发在此象征真主），却不知祂拥有一切知识与存在的源头之海。这个故事的核心不在于嘲笑贝都因人的无知，而在于赞美他那份质朴的虔诚。它教导我们，在灵性道路上，最重要的不是我们献上的“礼物”有多么贵重，而是那份全然奉献的、不计较回报的赤诚之心。

This couplet is spoken by the wife of a poor desert-dweller. Having collected some precious rainwater, she urges her husband to offer it to the Caliph in Baghdad. The gift is objectively worthless to a ruler whose city sits on the mighty Tigris river, but for this couple, it is everything they have.

The wife frames the offering not by its material value, but by the sincerity (ṣidq) behind it. The phrase "kingdom, capital, and all we possess" (mulkat va sarmāya va asbāb) is deliberately grand. It highlights the spiritual principle that the value of a gift lies in what it represents to the giver, not the receiver. For the bedouin, this jug of water is his entire estate. By giving it, he is giving his whole world.

Rumi later uses this story as an allegory for the spiritual seeker's offering to God. Our prayers and acts of devotion, like the bedouin's water, are laughably insignificant compared to the Divine Ocean. Yet, when offered with total sincerity—as the entirety of one's "possession"—they are accepted by God's grace.