One day there came by the Garden a man driving a packhorse and it was thin and weak with hunger and its back was badly galled by the pack saddle and its load was so heavy that although its master beat it continually with a great stick it moved forward very slowly. When the Lover saw this we went out of the Garden and said to the man, “Brother, why do you keep on beating your poor packhorse? Can you not see that it is through weakness and heaviness of his load that he cannot make a better pace?”
The man replied, “Stranger, have no pity on this horse, for he is an evil beast. Once I used to look after him well, giving him all the corn he could eat and only working him lightly and grooming him each day and resting him for the lightest hurt, yet he became wild and unmanageable and when I put any burden on him he reared up and broke his girths and he hurt me badly both by throwing me when I tried to ride him and striking at me with his forefeet. And if he saw a mare no man could hold him but he would break loose and do a great deal of harm. So I swore that I would overcome his wildness and wantonness with little food and heavy loads and much beating, but now that I have tamed him he has become sullen and despite all my blows he goes so slowly that I fear that I shall be late for the market and lose all the trouble I had making the journey.”
Then said the Lover, “Friend, you have not acted wisely in this, for it is not surprising that when he received a great deal of corn and spent his time in idleness he got out of hand through the overindulgence of his flesh, but now it is you yourself who are the loser, for through starvation and neglect he has become too weak to carry the heavy burden you have put on him. Take my advice then; leave half your load in my care and go with the other half to the market so that you may not be too late and lose all your labor.”
The man did as the Lover advised and the packhorse, feeling its load so much lightened, made good pace to the market so that the merchant arrived just in time to sell the goods he had with him at a good profit. Then he returned to the Garden to collect the things which he had left with the Lover and said to the Lover, “Thank you very much for your good advice, for had I taken the whole load I would not have reached the market in time and would have lost all the fruits of my labor.”
Then said the Lover, “Let me give you this further advice: take your horse home and feed him well, not on rich oats but on good plain hay and grass – put salve on his galls and work him each day not with excessive tasks but with work fitted to his strength, but don’t let him be idle. Do not keep beating your horse as you have been doing, for it you beat him when he goes well you have no remedy left for when he goes badly.”
The merchant promised he would do as the Lover advised. He went home and kept his promise and many times after that the Lover and the Disciple saw the man lead the horse past the Garden. Soon the horse was fat and in good condition, yet since his food was not overrich and he was not left in idleness he did not get out of hand. Soon he regained his strength and was able to bear loads far greater than those he had carried when first he passed the Garden, but he did not find them too heavy and made good pace to the market.
The Lover said to the Disciple, “Do you see a parable in this?”
The Disciple answered, “No sir, please explain it to me.”
“The packhorse,” said the Lover, “is like our body which bears loads of duties and good deeds for the soul of its master; but if the body is overindulged in sensual pleasures and idleness it becomes wanton and unmanageable. On account of this many who would serve the Beloved make the contrary mistake and afflict and starve their bodies, bringing them into subjection indeed but at the same time making them incapable of serving their masters and bearing a full burden of good deeds to the Beloved, for as you have seen it is labor in vain to load a packhorse beyond its strength. Therefore give to the packhorse – your body – what is needed for its sustenance but do not overindulge it; keep it employed but do not afflict it unnecessarily, for remember that it too is a servant of the Beloved.”
