The Song of the Flute

There is a story told by the Sufis of Islam. It is said that one day the Prophet called Ali to him alone, and revealed to him all the spiritual mysteries, placing him under a vow not to divulge them to anyone not qualified to receive them.

Ali was overawed by what he had been told. For forty days he kept it to himself, but then he could bear it no longer. Rushing off by himself he travelled far from the haunts of men, seeking a place where he could tell what he had heard, without revealing it to the uninitiated. At length he came upon a well, sunk deep in the sands, and, putting his head as far down into the shaft as he could, he disburdened his heart of all the mysteries, one by one, and shared them with his own echo.