Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207 – 1273)
Persian philosopher, theologian, poet, teacher, and founder of the Mevlevi order of Sufism; also known as Mevlana, Jalaluddin Rumi, or simply Rumi.
I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar
With angels blest; but even from angelhood
I must pass on: all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,
I shall become what no mind e'er conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence
Proclaims in organ tones, To Him we shall return.
Even though you're not equipped,
keep searching:
equipment isn't necessary on the way to the Lord.
Gamble everything for love,
if you are a true human being.
Out beyond ideas of rightdoing
and wrongdoing
There is a field.
I will meet you there.
Didn't I tell you?
I am an ocean, you are a fish;
do not go to the dry land,
it is me, who is your comforting body of water.
If you wish mercy, show mercy to the weak.
If you dig a pit for others to fall into,
you will fall into it yourself.
All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there.
Every object and being in the universe is
a jar overflowing with wisdom and beauty,
a drop of the Tigris that cannot be contained
by any skin. Every jarful spills and makes the earth
more shining, as though covered in satin.
Come, come again, whoever you are, come!
Heathen, fire worshipper or idolatrous, come!
Come even if you broke your penitence a hundred times,
Ours is the portal of hope, come as you are.
Lovers think they are looking for each other,
but there is only one search: wandering
This world is wandering that, both inside one
transparent sky. In here
there is no dogma and no heresy.
We talk about this and that. There’s no rest except on these branching moments.
Quit acting like a wolf, and feel
the shepherd's love filling you.
Whoever gives reverence receives reverence.
There is a community of the spirit
Join it, and feel the delight
of walking in the noisy street,
and being the noise.
Do not believe in an absurdity
no matter who says it.
The miracle of Jesus is himself, not what he said or did
about the future. Forget the future.
I'd worship someone who could do that.
Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.
This
that we are now
created the body, cell by cell,
like bees building a honeycomb.
Christ is the population of the world,
and every object as well. There is no room
for hypocrisy. Why use bitter soup for healing
when sweet water is everywhere?