God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites so that you will have two wings to fly, not one
— The Essential Rumi
Rumi, born Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, was a Sufi mystic and poet and the founder of the Islamic brotherhood known as the Mevlevi Order. An influential figure in Sufism, he looms large in Persian literature and in mystic poetry generally, and his translated works are read all over the world today.
His family came from Balkh. Driven west by the advancing Mongols when he was young, they spent time in cities across Iran, Baghdad and Damascus before settling in Konya when he was 19. Konya had recently been part of the Eastern Roman Empire, which is why he is called Rumi, "the Roman." Although he knew Sufi thought from early childhood, he was expected to follow his father as an Islamic scholar. The Essential Rumi and The Book of Love are among his most quoted works in our library.
His family came from Balkh. Driven west by the advancing Mongols when he was young, they spent time in cities across Iran, Baghdad and Damascus before settling in Konya when he was 19. Konya had recently been part of the Eastern Roman Empire, which is why he is called Rumi, "the Roman." Although he knew Sufi thought from early childhood, he was expected to follow his father as an Islamic scholar. The Essential Rumi and The Book of Love are among his most quoted works in our library.
Most quoted works
- The Essential Rumi 17
- The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing 8
- The Rumi Collection 7
- The Love Poems of Rumi 5
- A Year with Rumi: Daily Readings 3
- Bridge to the Soul: Journeys Into the Music and Silence of the Heart 3
Soul, if you want to learn secrets, your heart must forget about shame and dignity. You are God's lover, yet you worry what people are saying.
— The Essential Rumi
Do you know what you are? You are a manuscript oƒ a divine letter. You are a mirror reflecting a noble face. This universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you are already that.
— Hush, Don't Say Anything to God: Passionate Poems of Rumi
You think of yourselfas a citizen of the universe. You think you belong to this world of dust and matter. Out of this dustyou have created a personal image, and have forgottenabout the essence of your true origin
— Hush, Don't Say Anything to God: Passionate Poems of Rumi
Knowledge that is acquiredis not like this. Those who have it worry ifaudiences like it or not. It's a bait for popularity. Disputational knowing wants customers. It has no soul...The only real customer is God. Chew quietlyyour sweet sugarcane God-Love, and stayplayfully childish.
— The Essential Rumi
This poetry. I never know what I'm going to say.I don't plan it. When I'm outside the saying of it, I get very quiet and rarely speak at all.
— The Essential Rumi
If metal can be polishedto a mirrorlike finish, what polishing might the mirrorof the heart require? Between the mirror and the heartis this single difference: the heart conceals secrets, while the mirror does not.
— The Rumi Collection
You erased my famine, unpicked my anger / Your energy charges my voice, it radiates my heart; Now I am alive with the ore of words pouring / From my lips like molten lava glittering with joy.
— Words of Paradise: Selected Poems
In the silence of loveyou will find the spark of life
— The Love Poems of Rumi
My wails of sorroware tormenting my soul
— The Love Poems of Rumi
Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.
— The Essential Rumi
There is nothing I want but your presence. In friendship, time dissolves. Life is a cup. This connectionis pure wine. What else are cups for?I used to have twenty thousanddifferent desires.
— Bridge to the Soul: Journeys Into the Music and Silence of the Heart
Let go of your mind and then be mindful. Close your ears and listen!
— Love's Ripening: Rumi on the Heart's Journey
A craftsman pulled a reed from the reedbed, cut holes in it, and called it a human being. Since then, it's been wailing a tender agonyof parting, never mentioning the skillthat gave it life as a flute
If you desire healing, let yourself fall illlet yourself fall ill.
The Ego is a veil between humans and God’.”“In prayer all are equal.
Don't turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That's where the light enters you.