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Love Is a Stranger: Selected Lyric Poetry
Jelaluddin Rumi mystic and poet lived more than 700 years ago yet his work remains fresh and compelling to this day. Here in words that have stood the test of time are his best lyrical poems on the theme of spiritual love. This is a quintessential collection of some of Rumi's most inspired pieces. Kabir Helminski is a poet Rumi scholar and Sufi Sheik. His translations are poetically satisfying as well as remarkably faithful to the original.
- GenresPoetrySpirituality
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
28 people are currently reading
354 people want to read
About the author
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi
1,170 books15.7k 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 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 26, 2017
Go, rest your head on a pillow, leave me alone;
leave me ruined, exhausted from the journey of this night,
writhing in a wave of passion till the dawn.
Either stay and be forgiving,
or, if you like, be cruel and leave.
Flee from me, away from trouble;
take the path of safety, far from this danger
We have crept into this corner of grief,
turning the water wheel with a flow of tears.
*
Become like melting snow; wash yourself of yourself.
With love your inner voice will find a tongue
growing like a silent white lily in the heart.
*
I want a heart torn open with longing
to share the pain of this love.
*
Heart, what a rare bird you are,
leave me ruined, exhausted from the journey of this night,
writhing in a wave of passion till the dawn.
Either stay and be forgiving,
or, if you like, be cruel and leave.
Flee from me, away from trouble;
take the path of safety, far from this danger
We have crept into this corner of grief,
turning the water wheel with a flow of tears.
*
Become like melting snow; wash yourself of yourself.
With love your inner voice will find a tongue
growing like a silent white lily in the heart.
*
I want a heart torn open with longing
to share the pain of this love.
*
Heart, what a rare bird you are,
Read
June 6, 2025I’ve officially found my favorite collection of poetry and my favorite poet.
I picked this up randomly after I found it inn our family library. I was immediately immersed and I'm so impressed by Jelaluddin Rumi's profound expressions of love and the divine. Rumi captures a deep spirit in his writing and I’m so glad this was translated for people to read.
The introduction is a great start in an attempt to describe Rumi’s profound work:
- “To many already familiar with his life and writings, Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi is something more than a poet. He might be considered an example of isani kamil, the perfected or completed human being in whom the divine attributes are embodied” (Introduction, pg 6).
In an attempt to express my overwhelming love for Rumi’s work, here are some quotes I loved most (and I know it seems like I’ve copied the whole book down but just trust me):
- “Always see infinite life in letting the self die” (The Ruby).
- “So come, return to the root of the root of your Self” (The Root of the Root of Your Self).
- “Just as a cloudy night is dispelled by a clear dawn, from his humiliation and loss he views high heaven” (Love is a Stranger).
- “The intellectual is always showing off;
the lover is always getting lost.
The intellectual runs away, afraid of drowning;
the whole business of love is to drown in the sea.
Intellectuals plan their repose;
lovers are ashamed to rest.
The lover is always alone, even surrounded with people
like water and oil, he remains apart.
The man who goes to the trouble
of giving advice to a lover
get’s nothing. He’s mocked by passion.
Love is like musk. It attracts attention.
Love is a tree, and lovers are its shade” (The Intellectual) <—A FAV
- “If you are a man of learning,
read something classic,
a history of the human struggle
and don’t settle for mediocre verse” (On the Deathbed).
- “Whoever sees that sun says,
‘He is alive,’
and whoever sees only the window says,
‘He is dying’ (Like Sunlight Upon the Earth).
- “Mind, are these your dark suggestions?
Cloud, is this your sad rain?
Believers, watch your hearts.
Curious or kind, stay away” (What a Man Can Say).
- “And He is with you means He is searching with you.
He is nearer to you than yourself. Why look outside?
Become like melting snow; wash yourself of yourself.
With love your inner voice will find a tongue
growing like a white lily in the heart” (And He is With Us).
- “Night travelers are full of light,
and you are too; don’t leave this companionship” (Search the Darkness).
- “Heart, since you embraced the mysteries,
you have become useless for anything else.
Go mad, don’t stay sane.
People meditate to get something.
All you do is give” (This Useless Heart).
- “If night never came, people would waste themselves
pursuing all that they desire.
They would give their own bodies to be consumed
for the sake of their desire and greed,
but night appears, a treasure of Mercy,
to save them from desires a short while…
“December is grim, yet kind;
summer is all laughter, and yet it burns” (Expansion and Contraction).
- “If a sorrowful thought stands in the way,
it is also preparing the way for joy.
It furiously sweeps your house clean
in order that some new joy may appear from the Source.
It scatters the withered leaves from the bough of the heart, in order that fresh green leaves might grow.
It uproots the old joy so that
a new joy may enter from the Beyond.
“Sorrow pulls up the rotten root
that was veiled from sight.
Whatever sorrow takes away or causes the heart to shed,
it puts something better in its place—
especially for one who is certain
that sorrow is the servant for the intuitive” (The Guest House).
- “I’m a friend to both happy and sad.
Each befriended me for his own reasons,
yet none searched out the secrets I contain…
“The body is not hidden from the soul,
nor is the soul hidden from the body,
and yet the soul is not for everyone to see” (Song of the Reed).
- “Reality replied: O prisoner of time,
I was a secret treasure of kindness and generosity” (Be Lost in the Call).
- “If they ask what Love is,
say: the sacrifice of will.
If you have not left your will behind,
you have no will at all…
“Between the mirror and the heart
is this single difference:
the heart conceals secrets;
while the mirror does not” (The Inner Garment of Love) <—ANOTHER FAV
- “Each form you see has its unseen archetype.
If the form is transient, its essence is eternal.
If you have known beauty in a face,
or wisdom in a word,
let this counsel in your heart:
what perishes is not real” (The Body is a Rose).
- “Feed the soul; let the body fast.
Avoid knotted ideas;
untie yourself in a higher world.
Limit your talk
for the sake of timeless communion.
Abandon life and the world,
and find the life of the world” (Empty the Glass of Your Desire).
- “I made a journey of the soul accompanied by the moon…
“The vessel of my being had vanished in that sea.
Waves rose on the ocean. Intelligence ascended
and sounded its call” (To Know the Moon and the Sea).
- “I am not chaff but a mountain of patience.
What fierce wind could lift a mountain?
What the wind blows is trash” (Word of Ali when he refused to kill an opponent who spat in his face) <—MOVED ME SO MUCH I CRIED.
I picked this up randomly after I found it inn our family library. I was immediately immersed and I'm so impressed by Jelaluddin Rumi's profound expressions of love and the divine. Rumi captures a deep spirit in his writing and I’m so glad this was translated for people to read.
The introduction is a great start in an attempt to describe Rumi’s profound work:
- “To many already familiar with his life and writings, Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi is something more than a poet. He might be considered an example of isani kamil, the perfected or completed human being in whom the divine attributes are embodied” (Introduction, pg 6).
In an attempt to express my overwhelming love for Rumi’s work, here are some quotes I loved most (and I know it seems like I’ve copied the whole book down but just trust me):
- “Always see infinite life in letting the self die” (The Ruby).
- “So come, return to the root of the root of your Self” (The Root of the Root of Your Self).
- “Just as a cloudy night is dispelled by a clear dawn, from his humiliation and loss he views high heaven” (Love is a Stranger).
- “The intellectual is always showing off;
the lover is always getting lost.
The intellectual runs away, afraid of drowning;
the whole business of love is to drown in the sea.
Intellectuals plan their repose;
lovers are ashamed to rest.
The lover is always alone, even surrounded with people
like water and oil, he remains apart.
The man who goes to the trouble
of giving advice to a lover
get’s nothing. He’s mocked by passion.
Love is like musk. It attracts attention.
Love is a tree, and lovers are its shade” (The Intellectual) <—A FAV
- “If you are a man of learning,
read something classic,
a history of the human struggle
and don’t settle for mediocre verse” (On the Deathbed).
- “Whoever sees that sun says,
‘He is alive,’
and whoever sees only the window says,
‘He is dying’ (Like Sunlight Upon the Earth).
- “Mind, are these your dark suggestions?
Cloud, is this your sad rain?
Believers, watch your hearts.
Curious or kind, stay away” (What a Man Can Say).
- “And He is with you means He is searching with you.
He is nearer to you than yourself. Why look outside?
Become like melting snow; wash yourself of yourself.
With love your inner voice will find a tongue
growing like a white lily in the heart” (And He is With Us).
- “Night travelers are full of light,
and you are too; don’t leave this companionship” (Search the Darkness).
- “Heart, since you embraced the mysteries,
you have become useless for anything else.
Go mad, don’t stay sane.
People meditate to get something.
All you do is give” (This Useless Heart).
- “If night never came, people would waste themselves
pursuing all that they desire.
They would give their own bodies to be consumed
for the sake of their desire and greed,
but night appears, a treasure of Mercy,
to save them from desires a short while…
“December is grim, yet kind;
summer is all laughter, and yet it burns” (Expansion and Contraction).
- “If a sorrowful thought stands in the way,
it is also preparing the way for joy.
It furiously sweeps your house clean
in order that some new joy may appear from the Source.
It scatters the withered leaves from the bough of the heart, in order that fresh green leaves might grow.
It uproots the old joy so that
a new joy may enter from the Beyond.
“Sorrow pulls up the rotten root
that was veiled from sight.
Whatever sorrow takes away or causes the heart to shed,
it puts something better in its place—
especially for one who is certain
that sorrow is the servant for the intuitive” (The Guest House).
- “I’m a friend to both happy and sad.
Each befriended me for his own reasons,
yet none searched out the secrets I contain…
“The body is not hidden from the soul,
nor is the soul hidden from the body,
and yet the soul is not for everyone to see” (Song of the Reed).
- “Reality replied: O prisoner of time,
I was a secret treasure of kindness and generosity” (Be Lost in the Call).
- “If they ask what Love is,
say: the sacrifice of will.
If you have not left your will behind,
you have no will at all…
“Between the mirror and the heart
is this single difference:
the heart conceals secrets;
while the mirror does not” (The Inner Garment of Love) <—ANOTHER FAV
- “Each form you see has its unseen archetype.
If the form is transient, its essence is eternal.
If you have known beauty in a face,
or wisdom in a word,
let this counsel in your heart:
what perishes is not real” (The Body is a Rose).
- “Feed the soul; let the body fast.
Avoid knotted ideas;
untie yourself in a higher world.
Limit your talk
for the sake of timeless communion.
Abandon life and the world,
and find the life of the world” (Empty the Glass of Your Desire).
- “I made a journey of the soul accompanied by the moon…
“The vessel of my being had vanished in that sea.
Waves rose on the ocean. Intelligence ascended
and sounded its call” (To Know the Moon and the Sea).
- “I am not chaff but a mountain of patience.
What fierce wind could lift a mountain?
What the wind blows is trash” (Word of Ali when he refused to kill an opponent who spat in his face) <—MOVED ME SO MUCH I CRIED.
Read
October 10, 2024Standout poems:
• The Ruby (14)
• Didn’t I Say (22)
• The War Inside (26)
• What a Man Can Say (28)
• And He is With Us (35)
• Search the Darkness (37)
• The Guest House (44)
“Darling, the body is a guest house;
Each morning someone new arrives.
Don’t say, “Oh, another weight around my neck!”
Or your guest will fly back to nothingness.
Whatever enters your heart is a guest
From the invisible world: entertain it well.”
• The House of Love (66)
• The Body is a Rose (72)
• Empty the Glass of Your Desire (74)
“Join yourself to friends
And know the joy of the soul.
Enter the neighborhood of ruin
With those who drink to the dregs.”
• The Grave is a Veil (84)
“Close your mouth here and open it beyond,
And in the nowhere air will be your song.”
• The Ruby (14)
• Didn’t I Say (22)
• The War Inside (26)
• What a Man Can Say (28)
• And He is With Us (35)
• Search the Darkness (37)
• The Guest House (44)
“Darling, the body is a guest house;
Each morning someone new arrives.
Don’t say, “Oh, another weight around my neck!”
Or your guest will fly back to nothingness.
Whatever enters your heart is a guest
From the invisible world: entertain it well.”
• The House of Love (66)
• The Body is a Rose (72)
• Empty the Glass of Your Desire (74)
“Join yourself to friends
And know the joy of the soul.
Enter the neighborhood of ruin
With those who drink to the dregs.”
• The Grave is a Veil (84)
“Close your mouth here and open it beyond,
And in the nowhere air will be your song.”
October 27, 2014
When you will find somthing like this poetry and verses your lost conscience of love will arise. this love can be love for your soul, for yourself and also can be for your passion. people like me who are chasing for love, waiting and loving, it means a million worth. it sooths heart and give peace to my messed soul. It again made me confident to think that there is love. May be in some other world, can be selfloving or loving the person who accused to give me pain.
SO HERE I CAME>>>
"to the root of the root of your Self" :) <3
SO HERE I CAME>>>
"to the root of the root of your Self" :) <3
February 9, 2012
the most beautiful poem! pg.54
part of it from google...
When a Man and a Woman Become One:
When a man and a woman become one,
that "one" is You.
And when that one is obliterated, there You are.
Where is this "we" and this "I"?
By the side of the Beloved.
You made this "we" and this "I"
in order that you might play
this game of courtship with Yourself,
that all "you's" and "I's" might become one soul
and finally drown in the Beloved...
part of it from google...
When a Man and a Woman Become One:
When a man and a woman become one,
that "one" is You.
And when that one is obliterated, there You are.
Where is this "we" and this "I"?
By the side of the Beloved.
You made this "we" and this "I"
in order that you might play
this game of courtship with Yourself,
that all "you's" and "I's" might become one soul
and finally drown in the Beloved...
May 26, 2017
Most look out, Rumi looks in. Thoughts on Sufis, love and translations.
We are prisoners of perspective. Two eyes stare out into the world, and most of human thought is directed outward. The logical mind sees cause and effect and tacks what it can see using with numbers and words. Less frequently do we turn our gaze in. The glare of the inner glow perhaps as hard to look at as the sun is, but the poetry of Rumi looks inward. It unapologetically worships the divine within, and washes self in the waterfall of love’s mystery without necessarily worrying about translating it all in words.
In the introduction, the translator states that it’s difficult to read Rumi without an understanding of Sufis and the mystical path. I’d second that. Without the content of what Sufis believe and how they articulate their love of God, much of this could be confused with lower references. For starters, the Sufis see self and ego as an illusion. Think of the sparkle in a child’s eyes – that’s God. That sparkle exists in everyone, and that sparkle is the Real, the Divine, the One, the ruby. It’s important to lose attachment to individual perspective, desires and pain. The next step is identifying everything around you, including others, as other extensions of God. The philosophical term for this kind of religious belief is pantheism, but I like how it’s stated in the perennial philosophy as “I am that.” Finally there is letting go of reason, attained through meditation, mortification, music and wine (because it lessens the tight grip the ego and mind take on reality). Intoxication and “a wave of passion” are not typically sexual statements, but more an articulation of rapture of the divine.
The path of discovery is an inward plunge into the unknown, singing songs of rapture and praise for the Beloved which is God. Rumi’s poetry is admiration looking inward at the mirror of divinity.
This translation is the finest I’ve read. I agree with another point he makes that the style of Coleman Banks and others in that translation field reflect more about the modern poet than they do about the ancient poet. It’s close to form, more culturally informed, and spot on.
Quotes
Always see the infinite in letting the self die. 15
We are joyous pennants in your just wind. / Master, to where do you dance? / Toward the land of liberation, / toward the plain of non-existence. 18
Though the tree drinks from hidden roots, / we see the display of its branches. 19
Break all the glasses and fall toward the glassblower. 20
I merge with my Beloved when I participate in love. 49
When a man and a woman become one, / that “one” is You. / And when that one is obliterated, there You are. 54
You made this “we” and “I”? / By the side of my Beloved. / You made this “we” and this “I” / in order that you might play / this game of courtship with Yourself, / that all “you’s” and “I’s” might become one soul / and finally drown in the Beloved. 55
Clean away the mud and straw / and a mirror might be revealed. 64
If they ask what Love is, / say: the sacrifice of will. 69
You are nothing but the source of thought. / Feed the soul; let the body fast. 75
There is another within / by whom these eyes sparkle. 79
Without thinking of the letters, / listen to the language of the heart. / The color of purity / belongs to the creative Source. 81
We are prisoners of perspective. Two eyes stare out into the world, and most of human thought is directed outward. The logical mind sees cause and effect and tacks what it can see using with numbers and words. Less frequently do we turn our gaze in. The glare of the inner glow perhaps as hard to look at as the sun is, but the poetry of Rumi looks inward. It unapologetically worships the divine within, and washes self in the waterfall of love’s mystery without necessarily worrying about translating it all in words.
In the introduction, the translator states that it’s difficult to read Rumi without an understanding of Sufis and the mystical path. I’d second that. Without the content of what Sufis believe and how they articulate their love of God, much of this could be confused with lower references. For starters, the Sufis see self and ego as an illusion. Think of the sparkle in a child’s eyes – that’s God. That sparkle exists in everyone, and that sparkle is the Real, the Divine, the One, the ruby. It’s important to lose attachment to individual perspective, desires and pain. The next step is identifying everything around you, including others, as other extensions of God. The philosophical term for this kind of religious belief is pantheism, but I like how it’s stated in the perennial philosophy as “I am that.” Finally there is letting go of reason, attained through meditation, mortification, music and wine (because it lessens the tight grip the ego and mind take on reality). Intoxication and “a wave of passion” are not typically sexual statements, but more an articulation of rapture of the divine.
The path of discovery is an inward plunge into the unknown, singing songs of rapture and praise for the Beloved which is God. Rumi’s poetry is admiration looking inward at the mirror of divinity.
This translation is the finest I’ve read. I agree with another point he makes that the style of Coleman Banks and others in that translation field reflect more about the modern poet than they do about the ancient poet. It’s close to form, more culturally informed, and spot on.
Quotes
Always see the infinite in letting the self die. 15
We are joyous pennants in your just wind. / Master, to where do you dance? / Toward the land of liberation, / toward the plain of non-existence. 18
Though the tree drinks from hidden roots, / we see the display of its branches. 19
Break all the glasses and fall toward the glassblower. 20
I merge with my Beloved when I participate in love. 49
When a man and a woman become one, / that “one” is You. / And when that one is obliterated, there You are. 54
You made this “we” and “I”? / By the side of my Beloved. / You made this “we” and this “I” / in order that you might play / this game of courtship with Yourself, / that all “you’s” and “I’s” might become one soul / and finally drown in the Beloved. 55
Clean away the mud and straw / and a mirror might be revealed. 64
If they ask what Love is, / say: the sacrifice of will. 69
You are nothing but the source of thought. / Feed the soul; let the body fast. 75
There is another within / by whom these eyes sparkle. 79
Without thinking of the letters, / listen to the language of the heart. / The color of purity / belongs to the creative Source. 81
March 9, 2008
This book is the reason I'm with my wife
July 22, 2013
Reading this book in Ramadan has a special taste.I enjoyed it pretty much,and it actually refreshes my humdrum relationship with God..CAn we really"wash ourselves of our selves"?Can ew be "unselfed"?
February 17, 2017
Couldn't put it down till I finished. I'm just beginning to explore Rumi and I loved this book as an intro.
June 5, 2022
C’è una quota di pensiero che è esclusa dalla formazione di gran parte degli occidentali. Durante gli studi scolastici mi sembrava perfettamente logico studiare Sant’Agostino ma non era dato conoscere pensatori che riconducessero le proprie teorie a un dio di matrice diversa dal cattolicesimo.
Magari la conoscenza di autori come Rumi o dei suoi maestri, avrebbe potuto essere un buon vaccino contro il pregiudizio, dal quale non mi sento mai del tutto immune.
La forma di questo breve scritto, oltre che la sua sostanza, lo rendono un piccolo tesoro; lasciare le parole di Rumi viaggiare dentro, restituisce l’occasione perduta di aprire porte di cui non si conosceva l’esistenza.
Magari la conoscenza di autori come Rumi o dei suoi maestri, avrebbe potuto essere un buon vaccino contro il pregiudizio, dal quale non mi sento mai del tutto immune.
La forma di questo breve scritto, oltre che la sua sostanza, lo rendono un piccolo tesoro; lasciare le parole di Rumi viaggiare dentro, restituisce l’occasione perduta di aprire porte di cui non si conosceva l’esistenza.
August 17, 2020
Never has Rumi sounded so good
"In the garden last night
an urge ran through my head;
a sun shone out of my eyes;
an inner river began to flow"
"Surge like an ocean,
don't scatter yourself like a storm.
Life's waters flow from darkness
Search the darkness, don't run from it"
"In the garden last night
an urge ran through my head;
a sun shone out of my eyes;
an inner river began to flow"
"Surge like an ocean,
don't scatter yourself like a storm.
Life's waters flow from darkness
Search the darkness, don't run from it"
November 23, 2016
At breakfast tea a beloved asked her lover,
"Who do you love more, yourself or me?"
"From my head to my foot I have become you.
Nothing remains of me but my name.
You have your wish. Only you exist. (...)
I understand Helminski has several books of Rumi's translation. A few poems in this book overlap with those in The Pocket Rumi--it seems this book might be more available.
His translation is more scholastic, I guess. (Please see my review here for the comparison.) That's a strength and weakness at the same time--weakness because poems, especially those by Rumi, are beyond analytical understanding.
Love is reckless; not reason.
Reason seeks a profit.
Love comes on strong, consuming herself, unabashed. (...)
I think the choice of poems indicates his tendency as well. It's interesting to compare it with Rumi: Hidden Music.
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September 8, 2016Not giving this a rating. It's not my cup of tea but I get that it's very meaningful for others. I have a hard time with religion, even in a softer more mystical version like this. Will say that the poem that spoke to me the most was The Root of The Root of Yourself, possibly because I was experiencing a bout of self doubt when I read it and the following really spoke to me:
You are a ruby embedded in granite.
How long will you pretend it isn't true?
You are a ruby embedded in granite.
How long will you pretend it isn't true?
February 10, 2008
I hate poetry. I'll say that immediately - I generally think that poets are people who attempted to write some good prose, but sadly missed the mark. Nonetheless, some of Rumi's works are passable - barely.
July 27, 2008
Someone got this book as a gift. It is very likely I will pick it up again and really appreciate it some day. Just not didnt really at the time I read it. I am not often struck by an urge to pick up a book of poems.
March 30, 2013
Excellent poetry. If you dig Rumi and want to check out more Sufi poetry, look for a collection titled Quarreling With God.
February 22, 2014
Beautifully selected poems of Rumi and masterly translated by Kabir Helminski.
June 26, 2022
Everyone can find something that speaks to their life. I read this in one sitting and might reread again.
Something that apple to me was the idea of homeostasis all around us and acknowledging if I get rid of negative thoughts something will fill their place. This is the same for everything metaphysical or physical. For example, if I don’t want to spend time on my phone what will replace that time?
This book left my in deep thought. I really appreciated this read. It is also a great easy read if you just finished a thick novel and you need a light read to cleanse the palate.
Something that apple to me was the idea of homeostasis all around us and acknowledging if I get rid of negative thoughts something will fill their place. This is the same for everything metaphysical or physical. For example, if I don’t want to spend time on my phone what will replace that time?
This book left my in deep thought. I really appreciated this read. It is also a great easy read if you just finished a thick novel and you need a light read to cleanse the palate.
May 20, 2019
The body is not hidden from the soul,
nor is the soul hidden from the body,
and yet the soul is not for everyone to see.
nor is the soul hidden from the body,
and yet the soul is not for everyone to see.
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March 5, 2021Mystical poems about God with a beautiful words and behind it, there is a great meaning.
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October 26, 2024The stars will be watching us, and we will show them what it means to be a thin crescent Moon.
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August 11, 2017Wonderful it is
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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