Rumi (Persia)

Rumi was born as Jalal ad-Din Muhammad in the city of Balkh, in the region once called Persia, sometime in the year 1207. From the beginning, the world seemed to spin differently around him. As a child, he was wrapped in wisdom, born into a family that carried knowledge in its bones. His father, a well-known Islamic scholar, planted seeds of deep thought and spiritual curiosity into young Rumi’s heart, seeds that would later bloom into the most powerful garden of mystical poetry the world would ever see.

When he was still a child, political unrest and the fear of war forced his family to leave their homeland. So they traveled—city to city, mosque to mosque, library to library. Along the journey, Rumi absorbed the flavors of many cultures, meeting thinkers, visionaries, and holy men, all of whom poured their thoughts into his growing soul. His heart became a mosaic of worlds—Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Indian—and his mind a glowing lantern that lit up everywhere he went.

Eventually, Rumi settled in Konya, a city that would forever carry the echo of his spirit. He grew into a respected scholar and spiritual teacher, guiding students with both the sharpness of logic and the gentleness of love. His words were not cold like stone; they were soft, alive, and carried music. He taught that the path to God was not just through scriptures and sermons—it was through love, through the fire of passion, and the silence of surrender.

But the true awakening of his soul came when he met a wandering mystic named Shams of Tabriz.

Their meeting was like the sky meeting the ocean—sudden, vast, and world-changing. Shams was wild, fearless, and full of questions that broke Rumi’s old patterns. To many, Shams seemed mad, but to Rumi, he was the mirror that showed the true face of love. They would talk for hours, days, months. In Shams, Rumi found a flame that melted every wall inside him. He stopped teaching for a while, danced on the streets, sang poetry to the wind, and cried under the stars. His soul became a whirlpool of longing, and out of this longing, poetry poured out like waterfalls from the mountains of his heart.

But light never stays untested.

One day, Shams vanished.

Some say he was killed, others say he disappeared into the desert. No one truly knows. What is known is that Rumi’s pain was so deep it cracked the earth of his being. But even in that darkness, he found a path—not away from love, but deeper into it. He began spinning, turning in circles, just like the planets around the sun, trying to become one with the divine center. This turning became the sacred dance of the dervishes, a dance that lives on today as a symbol of spiritual surrender and beauty.

He wrote thousands of verses—not with ink, but with fire. Every line carried soul, sorrow, and starlight. His words reached beyond religion, beyond borders, beyond time. They spoke of love that is fearless, love that burns the ego, love that transforms the heart into a temple of joy. “You were born with wings,” he wrote, “why prefer to crawl through life?” In every poem, he whispered to humanity, “Come, come, whoever you are,” as if we were all lost travelers invited to sit at his table of wisdom.

He spoke of love not as a sweet feeling but as a furnace, a teacher, a door to truth. He said that pain is a guide and that every wound is where the light enters. He said that lovers don’t finally meet somewhere—they’ve been together all along. He reminded the world that the real journey is not outside in the deserts and cities, but inside the heart, where the soul longs for union with the eternal flame.

Rumi’s life was not about luxury or fame. He didn’t seek gold or power. His only treasure was the divine music of his soul, and he gave it freely. His followers grew in number, and after his passing, his teachings became the foundation of the Mevlevi Order, also known as the Whirling Dervishes.

Centuries passed.

Empires fell, languages changed, the world moved fast. But Rumi stayed.

In the 20th century, the Western world began to rediscover him. His poems were translated into dozens of languages. His words danced across continents, from bookshops in New York to tea houses in Istanbul. In a world growing tired of noise and distraction, Rumi’s silence spoke louder than thunder. Celebrities quoted him, monks meditated on him, and lovers held hands under the sky with his words in their mouths. His name became a bridge—a sacred echo connecting East and West, mind and heart, self and soul.

Rumi reminds us that life is not just what we see, but what we feel. He teaches that God is not a figure in the clouds, but the rhythm in our chest, the whisper in our dreams, the love in our eyes. He teaches that art is prayer, and prayer is love in motion.

Even today, his words feel like they were written yesterday.

In every line, there’s thunder and tenderness.

In every line, there’s a call to come alive.

His poems are not just read; they are lived, danced, breathed.

People around the world—of every age, race, and belief—still turn to him when their hearts are heavy or their spirits thirsty. They find in him a friend, a flame, a guide.

He lived more than 800 years ago, but he still walks beside us.

He tells us that it’s okay to break, to burn, to be lost—as long as we keep walking toward the light.

He tells us that love is not just a feeling, it’s the whole purpose of being.

He tells us not to wait.

“Don’t grieve,” he writes. “Anything you lose comes around in another form.”

His words are not history. They are soul-maps.

They remind us that even in a chaotic world, the path of beauty, truth, and love never ends.

Rumi is not gone.

He is the wind in the leaves, the silence between prayers, the fire in every seeker’s chest.

He is the poet who still spins.

The lover who still burns.

The mystic who still sings in the heart of the world.

Masnavi
This six-volume ocean of poetry is not just a book, it is a galaxy. It weaves stories, parables, and spiritual secrets into every verse, guiding the soul like a lighthouse through storms. Rumi poured his entire heart into the Masnavi, and reading it is like stepping into a garden where every flower whispers truths of love, pain, and divine longing. It is often called the “Qur’an in Persian,” not because of its religious command but because of its spiritual depth. Each page invites the reader to transform. It teaches that the brokenhearted are closest to God, and every sorrow hides a seed of awakening. This is not literature—it’s a living voice of the soul’s deepest calling.

Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi
Named after the flame who changed Rumi forever—Shams of Tabriz—this collection burns like firelight in the dark. These poems are wild, spontaneous, and overflowing with ecstatic love. They do not care for rules or structure—they sing like the wind, free and madly beautiful. In this book, Rumi becomes a dancer, a lover, a flame that refuses to be extinguished. It is not meant to be studied but felt. These verses are full of longing, sometimes joyful, sometimes heartbroken, always radiant. To read the Divan is to taste the sweetness of surrender. It reminds the soul that love is not calm—it is a storm that washes everything false away. This book is a fire that doesn’t burn the body, but the ego.

Fihi Ma Fihi
Translated as “It Is What It Is,” this prose work is a treasure chest of Rumi’s teachings spoken to his students and followers. It’s less about poetry and more about pure, unfiltered wisdom. Each discourse is a conversation between the heart and the divine. Here, Rumi explains complex spiritual ideas in the simplest language, like a friend sitting by your side under a starlit sky. Reading this book is like being gently held by truth itself. It reminds the reader that there is no distance between us and the sacred—only a veil made of our own thoughts. This work is a soul-compass, turning minds toward light.

Rubaiyat (Quatrains)
These short four-line poems are like lightning strikes—quick, bright, and unforgettable. They capture the essence of the universe in a breath. Rumi’s rubaiyat hold timeless wisdom inside simple beauty. Each one feels like a drop of honey from the sky. Some make you smile, some bring tears, all of them awaken something sleeping in the heart. They are perfect companions for quiet mornings or sleepless nights. These verses show how few words are needed to touch eternity.

Letters of Rumi
His letters are filled with kindness, advice, and profound insight, written to students, friends, and leaders. They offer a glimpse into Rumi’s soul beyond poetry—a guide, a healer, a wise man who lived what he taught. These letters are written with humility and grace. They show that love is not only sung but also lived—in words, actions, and relationships. Each letter is a candle in the hand of someone lost in the night.

All of Rumi’s works, whether in verse or prose, remind us that the journey inward is the greatest journey of all. He teaches us that we are not here just to survive—but to bloom, to burn bright, to dissolve into love. His words are more than pages—they are wings for the heart. Reading Rumi is not learning poetry—it is remembering your own soul.

Rumi’s Quotes

One

1. You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?
2. Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.
3. The wound is the place where the Light enters you.
4. Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.
5. Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
6. Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead, let life live through you.
7. What you seek is seeking you.
8. Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.
9. Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.
10. With life as short as a half-taken breath, don’t plant anything but love.
11. Why do you stay in prison, when the door is so wide open?
12. Shine like the whole universe is yours.
13. You were born with greatness.
14. Let yourself become living poetry.
15. Don’t get lost in your pain, know that one day your pain will become your cure.
16. Close your eyes, fall in love, stay there.
17. Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.
18. Your heart knows the way. Run in that direction.
19. This moment is all there is.
20. You were born with potential.
21. Love is the bridge between you and everything.
22. Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation.
23. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
24. Respond to every call that excites your spirit.
25. Be soulful. Be kind. Be in love.
26. The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart.
27. Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.
28. Don’t you know yet? It is your light that lights the world.
29. Love is not an emotion, it is your very existence.
30. There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.
31. The moment you accept what troubles you’ve been given, the door will open.
32. You were born with a soul that dances.
33. There’s a field beyond all right and wrong. I’ll meet you there.
34. Know that one day, your pain will become your cure.
35. You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.
36. Dance until you shatter yourself.
37. The soul has been given its own ears to hear things the mind does not understand.
38. Let the beauty we love be what we do.
39. The sky will bow down to your beauty, if you do.
40. Travel brings power and love back into your life.
41. The quieter you become, the more you can hear.
42. Love risks everything and asks for nothing.
43. Don’t worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know the side you’re used to is better than the one to come?
44. When the soul is looking for you, even the dust of your footprints will be holy.
45. Be drunk in love since love is everything that exists.
46. You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.
47. Do not worry if all the candles in the world flicker and die. We have the spark that starts the fire.
48. If all you can do is crawl, start crawling.
49. Move, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.
50. The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are.

Two

1. When you let go of who you are, you become who you might be.
2. Patience is not sitting and waiting, it is foreseeing.
3. Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life.
4. Each moment contains a hundred messages from God.
5. Be patient where you sit in the dark. The dawn is coming.
6. Love sometimes wants to do us a great favor: hold us upside down and shake all the nonsense out.
7. Don’t get lost in your pain; find the remedy in it.
8. Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot.
9. Don’t you know it yet? You are the light of God.
10. Be full of sorrow, that you may become a hill of joy.
11. Tear off the mask. Your face is glorious.
12. Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it.
13. The garden of the world has no limits except in your mind.
14. Don’t run away from the grief. Ours is not a caravan of despair.
15. You are not meant for crawling, so don’t. You have wings. Learn to use them.
16. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
17. Don’t you know that you are a reflection of the Divine?
18. Stay with the pain. It’s the key to the doorway of your deepest healing.
19. If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?
20. Try to be like the moon in a night sky: lighting others with your presence.
21. The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore.
22. Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
23. Surrender to love, it will open a thousand doors.
24. Inside you, there’s an artist you don’t know.
25. Don’t turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place.
26. What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle.
27. Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you truly love.
28. Be like melting snow. Wash yourself of yourself.
29. You are the seeker and the sought.
30. The soul is here for its own joy.
31. Give up everything so that you can have everything.
32. Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal.
33. Your light is more magnificent than sunrise or sunset.
34. Love is the religion, and the universe is the book.
35. Don’t be satisfied with stories. Unfold your own myth.
36. The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you.
37. Laugh as much as you breathe, love as long as you live.
38. Love is the whole thing. We are only pieces.
39. Become the sky. Take an axe to the prison wall.
40. Be still, and listen to the whispers of your soul.
41. Let your soul catch up with your body.
42. If words come out of the heart, they will enter the heart.
43. The time has come to turn your heart into a temple of fire.
44. Let your teacher be love itself.
45. Every moment is a fresh beginning.
46. Be with those who help your being.
47. With love in your heart, every day is a celebration.
48. Dive into the ocean of yourself and you’ll find pearls.
49. Even when tied in chains, the heart dances.
50. Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.