The Story of the Friendship between a Frog and a Mouse
Submitted by Mohammed Gilani on
Once on the bank of a river there lived a mouse and a
frog. A very close friendship developed between them.
This friendship grew until it became a love relationship.
By mutual arrangement, they used to meet each other daily in
the mornings and would converse with each other for hours.
These meetings made both of them very happy.
They used to
tell stories to each other and listened to each other's tales. They
even told each other their secrets and considered each other as
their sole confidant. When they met, they even remembered
and related happenings of more than five years ago, to each
other.
One day the mouse told the frog: "You are swimming around in
the water while I am here on the dry earth. I suffer the pangs of
separation from you. I come to the edge of the water to call you,
but while you are in the water, even the voice of a lover cannot
be heard. I am not happy with just meeting and talking to you
for a short while".
(Salaah has only been made obligatory five
times a day, but the true lovers of Allah Ta’ala permanently
enjoy communion with Allah Ta’ala through optional prayers.)
The mouse then said to the frog, "O beloved frog,
without seeing you, I cannot find peace. By day, the sight of
you is my life, by night the thought of you is my consolation
and sleep. It will be a great favor on your part if you will permit
me the pleasure of the opportunity of meeting you at all times."
The mouse told the frog: "Brother, I am a creature living
on dry land and you live in the water. I am unable to enter the
water, but you are able to come to land. But how will you be
able to know, inside the water, that I have a desire to meet
you?" For quite a time they discussed the problem and
consulted each other. Finally, the mouse put forward a suggestion that one end of a piece of string the frog should tie
to its leg and the other end to the foot of the mouse.
Thus, when
the mouse desired to meet the frog he will pull the string. In the
water, the frog would feel the pulling of the string and thus
come to the bank of the river. In this way, they would be able to
meet each other. The frog considered the mouse's suggestion to
be a bad one and said to himself: "This evil minded one wishes
to tie me up."
''It is no surprise if a blind person falls into a well;
what is surprising is when a person of sight falls into it."
In
spite of disliking the mouse's suggestion, the frog found an
inclination within himself to accede to the request. When a
person's desire overpowers reason, it is the beginning of
decline.
The two of them, by pulling the string, were able to
enjoy the ecstasy of meeting each other repeatedly. Then one
day the result of this bad company became a reality. A vulture
came along and carried the mouse off in its claw. As the vulture
flew off with the mouse, he also lifted the frog out of the water
where up to now he was safe and comfortable, because the
other end was tied to his leg.
What happened to the mouse also
happened to the frog. The vulture killed both of them and ate
them up. If the frog had remained in the water and not formed
a friendship with the evil mouse, then nothing would have
happened to him and he would have remained safe.
Lesson
In this story, Maulana Rumi has drawn our attention to the
harm of bad company. It is a good story with a powerful moral.
In the story, we see the Rooh(soul), the Nafs(self) and Shaytaan.
The "Nafs-e Ammaarah (evil Nafs)" is the evil mouse. The soul is the frog
which lives in the water of Allah Ta’ala's nearness, which is its
proper place. The vulture represents the Shaytaan or devil.
The
Nafs (Self) in order to satisfy its desires tries to engage the soul
in evil doings and endeavors to tie it with a string. Where the
soul obeys the desires of the Self and makes contact with the Self, then Shaytaan will pull it along wherever it wishes. In this
way the soul is also humiliated because of its contact with the Nafs. Hence, when Shaytaan will go to Jahannum, the Nafs (Self)
which was in its claws will also go to Jahannum accompanied by the Rooh as well, which had befriended the Nafs in sin.
مبارک تجھے اے مری آہِ مضطر
کہ منزل کو نزدیک تر لا رہی ہے
"Congratulations! O my restless sigh!
You are bringing the destination (union with
Allah Ta’ala) closer and closer."
(Arifbillah Hazrat e Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad
Akhtar Saheb (Damat Barakaatuhum)
(Ma'arife Mathnawi)