"To the English reader the mysticism of Rumi (1207-1273) opens a new world of spiritual and poetical experience. 'God is One, but religions are many' runs the Sufi teaching; and the English reader can here enlarge his experience by apprehending the mystic intuition of a great Persian poet."1

Coleman Barks, the translator whose work sparked an American Rumi renaissance, spoke on the reasons Rumi endures: "His startling imaginative freshness. The deep longing that we feel coming through. His sense of humour. There's always a playfulness mixed in with the wisdom."2

Here Rumi speaks to all who grieve.

Don't run away from grief, o soul,

Look for the remedy inside the pain,

because the rose came from the thorn

And the ruby came from a stone.

-Rumi3

I said: What about my eyes?

God said: Keep them on the road.

I said: What about my passion?

God said: Keep it burning.

I said: What about my heart?

He said: Tell me what you hold inside it.

I said: Pain and sorrow?

He said: Stay with it. The wound is the place where the light enters you.

-Rumi3

Recommended reading about the life of Jalalu'I-Din Rumi, the reader is referred to Anne Marie Schimmel's The Life and Works of the Greatest Sufi Poet. Shambhala Dragon Editions, 2001.

References