2.7: Rumi
- Page ID
- 15283
Rumi, 1207– 1273 CE, was a 13th-century Persian Muslim poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions in the Muslim world and beyond. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s language. Rumi has become a widely read and popular poet, even in the US.
About Rumi: from Coleman Barks[1]
Opening the Heart Through Ecstatic Poetry
You will find several selections of his works translated below. Rumi speak of Love in much of his poetry, and there is some equation of love with the divine, as well. His works help the discussion of the concept of God, and the definition of Love.
“BE SILENT”
Be silent that the Lord who gave thee language may speak,
For as He fashioned a door and lock, He has also made a key.
“I SAW THE WINTER WEAVING”
I saw the winter weaving from flakes a robe of Death;
And the spring found earth in mourning, all naked, lone, and bare.
I heard Time’s loom a-whirring that wove the Sun’s dim Veil;
I saw a worm a-weaving in Life-threads its own lair.
I saw the Great was Smallest, and saw the Smallest Great;
For God had set His likeness on all the things that were.
THE SILENCE OF LOVE
Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries.
A lover may hanker after this love or that love,
But at the last he is drawn to the KING of Love.
However much we describe and explain Love,
When we fall in love we are ashamed of our words.
Explanation by the tongue makes most things clear,
But Love unexplained is better.
WOMAN
Woman is a ray of God, not a mere mistress,
The Creator’s Self, as it were, not a mere creature!
THE GIFTS OF THE BELOVED
Where will you find one more liberal than God?
He buys the worthless rubbish which is your wealth,
He pays you the Light that illumines your heart.
He accepts these frozen and lifeless bodies of yours,
And gives you a Kingdom beyond what you dream of,
He takes a few drops of your tears,
And gives you the Divine Fount sweeter than sugar.
He takes your sighs fraught with grief and sadness,
And for each sigh gives rank in heaven as interest.
In return for the sigh-wind that raised tear-clouds,
God gave Abraham the title of “Father of the Faithful.”
ALL RELIGIONS ARE ONE 
In the adorations and benedictions of righteous men
The praises of all the prophets are kneaded together.
All their praises are mingled into one stream,
All the vessels are emptied into one ewer.
Because He that is praised is, in fact, only One.
In this respect all religions are only one religion.
Because all praises are directed towards God’s Light,
These various forms and figures are borrowed from it.
The Speech
Listen to this Ted Talk by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf[2]:
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Persian Mystics
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg. License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org.
Title: Jalálu’d-dín Rúmí The Persian Mystics
Author: Jalálu’d-dín Rúmí
Translator: Frederick Hadland Davis
Release Date: March 17, 2014 [EBook #45159]
Language: English
- For 30 years, until retirement in 1997, Dr. Coleman Barks taught poetry and creative writing at the University of Georgia. As a professor emeritus, Dr. Barks still resides in Athens and writes and publishes under his own imprint, Maypop Books, as well as HarperCollins, the University of Georgia ↵
- Feisal Abdul Rauf (Arabic: فيصل عبد الرؤوف, born 1948) is an Egyptian American Sufi[1][2] imam, author, and activist whose stated goal is to improve relations between the Muslim world and the West.[3] From 1983 to 2009, he served as Imam of Masjid al-Farah, a mosque in New York City.[4][5] He has written three books on Islam and its place in contemporary Western society, including What's Right with Islam Is What's Right with America, and founded two non-profit organizations whose stated missions are to enhance the discourse on Islam in society. ↵