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Where Everything is Music
Rumi’s verses have been a balm for readers’ souls for over eight centuries. This exquisite selection brings together some of the Persian mystic’s most profound, evocative and transcendent works. Exploring passion, heartbreak, friendship, faith and the myriad ways in which we move through the world, these strikingly modern poems are perfect for those looking for inspiration, guidance, or endless delight.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1200
About the author
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi
1,168 books15.9k followersSufism inspired writings of Persian poet and mystic Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi; these writings express the longing of the soul for union with the divine.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī - also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master") and more popularly simply as Rumi - was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic who lived in Konya, a city of Ottoman Empire (Today's Turkey). His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages, and he has been described as the most popular poet and the best-selling poet in the United States.
His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali.
Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by his father, Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm, his father decided to migrate westwards, eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya, where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature, and profoundly affected the culture of the area.
When his father died, Rumi, aged 25, inherited his position as the head of an Islamic school. One of Baha' ud-Din's students, Sayyed Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, continued to train Rumi in the Shariah as well as the Tariqa, especially that of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practised Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Rumi's public life then began: he became an Islamic Jurist, issuing fatwas and giving sermons in the mosques of Konya. He also served as a Molvi (Islamic teacher) and taught his adherents in the madrassa. During this period, Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.
It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on 15 November 1244 that completely changed his life. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, Rumi was transformed into an ascetic.
On the night of 5 December 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. Rumi's love for, and his bereavement at the death of, Shams found their expression in an outpouring of lyric poems, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.
Rumi found another companion in Salaḥ ud-Din-e Zarkub, a goldsmith. After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favourite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next 12 years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.
In December 1273, Rumi fell ill and died on the 17th of December in Konya.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī - also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master") and more popularly simply as Rumi - was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic who lived in Konya, a city of Ottoman Empire (Today's Turkey). His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages, and he has been described as the most popular poet and the best-selling poet in the United States.
His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali.
Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by his father, Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm, his father decided to migrate westwards, eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya, where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature, and profoundly affected the culture of the area.
When his father died, Rumi, aged 25, inherited his position as the head of an Islamic school. One of Baha' ud-Din's students, Sayyed Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, continued to train Rumi in the Shariah as well as the Tariqa, especially that of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practised Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Rumi's public life then began: he became an Islamic Jurist, issuing fatwas and giving sermons in the mosques of Konya. He also served as a Molvi (Islamic teacher) and taught his adherents in the madrassa. During this period, Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.
It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on 15 November 1244 that completely changed his life. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, Rumi was transformed into an ascetic.
On the night of 5 December 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. Rumi's love for, and his bereavement at the death of, Shams found their expression in an outpouring of lyric poems, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.
Rumi found another companion in Salaḥ ud-Din-e Zarkub, a goldsmith. After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favourite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next 12 years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.
In December 1273, Rumi fell ill and died on the 17th of December in Konya.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
May 27, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
no writer in history has ever written about love the way rumi does!!! I'm floored every time
no writer in history has ever written about love the way rumi does!!! I'm floored every time
May 24, 2025
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there 💘
November 28, 2025
Cannot even begin to imagine how beautifully it must read in Arabic.
April 16, 2026
poetry so timeless its genuinely shocking its 800 years old
November 9, 2025
Spoiler Alert: Hit or miss, unusual for Rumi.
July 7, 2026
"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep."
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep."
March 2, 2026
“Silence is an ocean. Speech is a river”
Rumi, Send the Chaperones Away
This rating is limited because of what I’m sure has been lost in translation.
Rumi, Send the Chaperones Away
This rating is limited because of what I’m sure has been lost in translation.
December 17, 2025
I’ve been wanting to read Rumi for some time now, and I’m glad I finally picked up a copy of “Where Everything is Music”. His poetry is just the kind that I most enjoy: evocative, mystical, and bearing a hint of something elusive. I especially like his philosophical preoccupation with the interconnectedness of all things, a feature he shares with Khalil Gibran, whose poetry collection “The Prophet” I read earlier this year.
The way in which he blends themes of spirituality with those of traditional love poetry is particularly interesting and appealing: this commingling is, of course, also characteristic of the metaphysical poets (notably Donne and Herbert), and I enjoyed seeing these poetic resonances across time and geography. Rumi certainly deserves to rank among the greatest love poets of all time. I’d like to seek out more of his work!
The way in which he blends themes of spirituality with those of traditional love poetry is particularly interesting and appealing: this commingling is, of course, also characteristic of the metaphysical poets (notably Donne and Herbert), and I enjoyed seeing these poetic resonances across time and geography. Rumi certainly deserves to rank among the greatest love poets of all time. I’d like to seek out more of his work!
July 1, 2026
It's probably too old and far removed from my experience to really appreciate - although I love The Odyssey and you don't get much older than that...
I just couldn't get into it. It was both chaotic and weirdly prescriptive, like someone actively on acid giving a self-actualisation lecture. But the kind of acid trip where you look back on what you said and realise it wasn't even that fun and exciting, just soft mutterings about nothing much.
That said, the language is accessible and I think it's notable that for something composed in the 13th century, it's not a given that poetry would be written for the people. For that alone I could understand why Rumi has stood the test of time.
I just couldn't get into it. It was both chaotic and weirdly prescriptive, like someone actively on acid giving a self-actualisation lecture. But the kind of acid trip where you look back on what you said and realise it wasn't even that fun and exciting, just soft mutterings about nothing much.
That said, the language is accessible and I think it's notable that for something composed in the 13th century, it's not a given that poetry would be written for the people. For that alone I could understand why Rumi has stood the test of time.
December 10, 2025
Ohh I enjoy poetry so so much all of a sudden!!
“We have this way of talking, and we have another.
Apart from what we wish and what we fear may happen,
we are alive with other life, as clear stones
take form in the mountain”
“But we have ways within each other
that will never be said by anyone.
⭐️
Come to the orchard in spring.
there is light and wine, and sweethearts
in the pomegranate flowers.
If you do not come, these do not matter.
If you do come, these do not matter.”
🎶🌸🌳🍇🏔️
“We have this way of talking, and we have another.
Apart from what we wish and what we fear may happen,
we are alive with other life, as clear stones
take form in the mountain”
“But we have ways within each other
that will never be said by anyone.
⭐️
Come to the orchard in spring.
there is light and wine, and sweethearts
in the pomegranate flowers.
If you do not come, these do not matter.
If you do come, these do not matter.”
🎶🌸🌳🍇🏔️
June 30, 2026
Eastern poetry! My friend put me onto Rumi and he's different for sure. So spiritual. I wish I could read the original farsi. I love the contrast between this and the english poetry I studied in college. It really embraces spirituality and leans toward raw human experience rather than just playing with words and structure (of course, im reading a translation). The use of stories and metaphors has a vitality and depth that a lot of western poets shy away from or dance around. Cool stuff. Diversify ur portfolio, I recommend
May 25, 2026
“But we have ways within each other that will never be said by anyone.”
5 poetry I can (mostly) understand stars
The perfect little collection for an introduction to both Rumi and poetry. I WANT to like and understand poetry more than I do and this collection was both mostly easy to understand and beautiful. I see why he’s still popular 900 years later.
5 poetry I can (mostly) understand stars
The perfect little collection for an introduction to both Rumi and poetry. I WANT to like and understand poetry more than I do and this collection was both mostly easy to understand and beautiful. I see why he’s still popular 900 years later.
August 19, 2025
Do you think I know what I'm doing? That for one breath or half-breath I belong to myself?
As much as a pen knows what it's writing, or the ball can guess where it's going next.
Absolutely stunning to read.
As much as a pen knows what it's writing, or the ball can guess where it's going next.
Absolutely stunning to read.
June 8, 2025
“A mountain keeps an echo deep inside itself
That’s how I hold your voice”
Beautiful.
That’s how I hold your voice”
Beautiful.
July 2, 2025
'Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form. The child weaned from mother's milk now drinks wine and honey mixed.'
Read
July 6, 2025*later*
August 10, 2025
"the only real rest comes
when you're alone with God"
always fascinating and heart touching
when you're alone with God"
always fascinating and heart touching
December 1, 2025
"When light returns to its source, it takes nothing of what it has illuminated"
is my favourite
is my favourite
December 15, 2025
"May I be your moon?" Rumi asked the sun.
December 24, 2025
To take a breathe, and think. It was a peaceful break.
December 27, 2025
timeless reading.
February 11, 2026
Of course Rumi was a Libra..
Read
February 14, 2026My favourite part was trying to figure out whether each poem was about God, someone he’s in love with or his teachers, knowing that it could easily be any of them for any given poem lol
February 16, 2026
“The body is a device to calculate the astronomy of the spirit.
Look through that astrolabe and become oceanic.”
February 17, 2026
I don’t get tired of you. Don’t grow weary of being compassionate toward me!
March 6, 2026
Timeless; spoke right to my heart
March 19, 2026
Heart and soul food feed me spiritually.
April 13, 2026
There is something both mystical and yet also down to earth to Rumi's works that draws you in poem by poem, to read and ponder. They have the same energy and flow of Gibran's words.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews