The Water of Life...

It is a patient pursuit to bring water from the depth of the ground; one has to deal with much mud in digging before one reaches the water of life.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

Love is life, and life is symbolized by water. When one wants to bring water up out of the ground one has to dig for it, and the first thing which one finds is mud. And if one is disappointed by that, one has fooled oneself, for beneath the earth is water; it can be found but one must have patience to dig for it, to dig deep enough to find the water.

Some say, 'I have loved dearly once, but I was disappointed.' It is as if a man were to say, 'I dug in the earth, but when the mud came, I was disappointed.' It is true that mud came; but with patience, he will reach the water one day. Only patience can endure. Only endurance produces greatness.

What, generally, man knows about love is the give and take:' if you give me twelve pence, I will give you a shilling.' For as long as one sees life in the form of business, in the form of give and take, he does not know love, and it is a great pity, when, after knowing something of love, the heart has turned cold and bitter. And what reason is there? The reason is this, that when one digs the ground one must dig until the water comes. But if one digs halfway, then there is no water, there is mud. But what is love? Love is a continual sacrifice. And what does sacrifice mean? Sacrifice means forgetting of the self.