From the Whim of the Moment: A Snake That Stretched with Water
“A lump of mud stretched with water.” Here, “mud” refers to sludge—black, foul-smelling, wet clay—or to a thin, chaotic dough that cannot be controlled or held. If water is added to it, its looseness doubles and its corruption and stench intensify. This is an old Arabic proverb used to describe a corrupt situation or an evil that worsens and escalates due to what is added to it. It is also applied to circumstances that are already dire or complex, where an intervention believed to fix or alleviate the problem instead deepens the crisis and exacerbates the underlying ailment. It is akin to the proverb “adding clay to a lump of clay.” Such an action is undertaken only by a reckless, foolish person who “sought to kohl her eyes and ended up blinding her.”
There are many maxims that revolve around our proverb “a lump of mud stretched with water,” highlighting how corruption intensifies when attempts are made to patch it up, or how defects accumulate when what worsens them is added. For example: “One who repairs a flaw with falsehood is like one who builds a palace only to demolish a city.” This is said of someone who relies on corrupt means to fix an existing problem, thereby increasing its corruption. Another is: “One who strives for reform without knowledge is like a patient who takes medicine that makes them sicker.” The interference of the ignorant in the name of reform is itself the disease. Also: “When the patch grows larger than the tailor, the entire garment is ruined.” This wisdom is invoked when defects multiply and haphazard patching attempts follow one another, turning the patching itself into the cause of total ruin. And: “The illness should not be treated with what begets the disease.” This is said to warn against using corrupt means or taking risks as a way out of an existing predicament.
Thus, “a lump of mud stretched with water” describes an act committed only by the reckless. This behavior is not limited to individuals; it extends to nations when they act according to the whims and mindsets of the individuals who hold power and control their destiny.
This is precisely what the reckless Iranian regime did after its aggression against the Gulf Arab states, seeking revenge for the US-Israeli bombing of Iran. Despite Iran’s constant complaints about what it claims are forces of global arrogance, it chose to become an arrogant power toward its neighbors. Instead of seeking refuge in their proximity or requesting political assistance and support to help it emerge from its suffocating isolation and chronic domestic and international crises, it “added clay to a lump of clay” upon itself through its treachery and aggression. As a result, it lost whatever remaining avenues of survival and escape it had, and the Arabic proverb “Baraqash brought ruin upon herself” came to apply to it.
The Iranian regime persisted in its folly and deepened its inherently corrupt predicament, further increasing its international isolation by attempting to close the Strait of Hormuz to deprive Gulf Arabs of their livelihood. This led to even more suffocating economic sanctions and political pressure. Iran’s foolish actions did not achieve its desired goals; rather, they worsened its situation, turning it into a pariah nation isolated like “a lump of mud stretched with water.”
Our proverb is applied to the foolish management of both individuals and nations alike. It is used for anyone who, seeking to escape a predicament, allows their recklessness to lead them into further crises and destruction.
