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Rumi's Little Book of Wisdom
Life-changing wisdom from the popular Persian sage and poet This is a collection of inspirational wisdom for living a meaningful and productive life. The selection of quotations is chosen to reflect Rumi’s inspiring and uplifting approach to life and address the inevitable issues that we encounter during our lifetimes.
Here, Rumi talks directly to us, just as he did to his contemporaries 800 years ago. The wisdom includes no-nonsense statements, observations, and facts, ranging from matters of the heart, to understanding human nature, to embracing the nature of the divine. The end result is an extended meditation on how to live one’s life with meaning, productivity, and kindness.
This new translation of Rumi’s wisdom is fresh, contemporary, and practical. It will appeal to the many who have loved his poetry, those who need a dose of daily inspiration, spiritual seekers, and those looking for traditional Sufi wisdom.
Selections from Rumi’s Little Book of
“People always fall in love with what they can’t have. They readily give up their freedom in order to own what they can’t understand; and they never fully appreciate what they’ve rightfully owned from the beginning.”
“There is never a moment when we’re not in love. Every hour there might be a new the love of sleep, love of rest, love of the harp, or simply love of beauty. When we feel enveloped by these feelings, we know we’re enveloped by Love.”
“What a shame to finally reach the open sea but settle for a modest jug of water!"
Here, Rumi talks directly to us, just as he did to his contemporaries 800 years ago. The wisdom includes no-nonsense statements, observations, and facts, ranging from matters of the heart, to understanding human nature, to embracing the nature of the divine. The end result is an extended meditation on how to live one’s life with meaning, productivity, and kindness.
This new translation of Rumi’s wisdom is fresh, contemporary, and practical. It will appeal to the many who have loved his poetry, those who need a dose of daily inspiration, spiritual seekers, and those looking for traditional Sufi wisdom.
Selections from Rumi’s Little Book of
“People always fall in love with what they can’t have. They readily give up their freedom in order to own what they can’t understand; and they never fully appreciate what they’ve rightfully owned from the beginning.”
“There is never a moment when we’re not in love. Every hour there might be a new the love of sleep, love of rest, love of the harp, or simply love of beauty. When we feel enveloped by these feelings, we know we’re enveloped by Love.”
“What a shame to finally reach the open sea but settle for a modest jug of water!"
203 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2021
51 people are currently reading
148 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 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 10, 2021
Q:
It's said that, when God selects a person to immerse in His light and people approach that person for help, God grants them their wishes, even before they ask. (c)
It's said that, when God selects a person to immerse in His light and people approach that person for help, God grants them their wishes, even before they ask. (c)
January 15, 2022
It would have been better if only the true translations were given, instead what you get is the translator's understanding of Rumi's various verses and proses. Diasppointed.
December 26, 2021
“What would you like to have?” God asked the mystic Bayazid.
“I want not to want!” he replied instantly.
“I want not to want!” he replied instantly.
May 3, 2023
I might be biased.
some of the stories or parables in this book just doesn't make sense to me.
some of the stories or parables in this book just doesn't make sense to me.
June 19, 2024
When we truly know ourselves, we know the Divine!
*****
When you entrust a garden of roses to a gardener and you detect only foul odors rising in the air, whom do you blame? The garden, or the gardener?
*****
Regardless of wealth and stature, everyone experiences frustration, restlessness, pain, yearning, longing, and love.
*****
Light fades as the sun sets. But if you can't bear to live without light, you've no choice but to become the sun itself!
*****
In the light of day, all things are visible and clear; but at night, everything is secured under the blanket of darkness.
*****
Wherever you are, you're right where you need to be!
*****
Speaking kindly about others and praising them when praise is due will only reflect positively on you. When we become accustomed to thinking well of others, we live much like the man who plants beautiful flowers and shrubs around his home. Every time he looks outside, he feels as if he's entered paradise.
*****
The things we say and do, whether in praise or in defiance of others, will one day come back to either haunt us, or inspire us with hope.
*****
When our minds decide to go to a new place, our hearts travel there first to check out the terrain, later returning to convey our bodies there.
*****
It's imperative to regard one another with positive and well-meaning eyes, for the traits that we often associate with people are not truly representative of them.
*****
People always fall in love with what they can't have. They readily give up freedom in order to own what they truly can't understand, and they never fully appreciate what they've rightfully owned from the beginning.
*****
It's time to stop grieving! There's abundant joy awaiting us with no sorrow in view! No need to be sad; the rose without thorns is in sight.
*****
Often when you feel upset with your brother's flaws, it's truly yourself who disquiets you.
*****
If you want to love, you must first be enthusiastic about loving!
*****
It gives me immeasurable pleasure to spend time with my friends. I enjoy their company and I hope that they take just as much pleasure in mine—especially because, these days, people lose their friends far too easily. It's imperative to make the effort to see one another, regardless of the negative or positive qualities that we ascribe to ourselves, for these are borrowed traits that, in reality, have very little to do with our true essence.
*****
People's imaginations differ vastly. For example, an architect and a builder both may imagine a house, but the two pictures they have in mind may be an ocean apart.
*****
If you can guide someone out of ignorance and introduce them to wisdom from which they can benefit, or drag them out of their inanimate state and help them return to real life, that's a true miracle!
*****
Human beings are a culmination of their thoughts; the rest is just skin and bones.
*****
People become ungrateful when they can't satisfy all their desires, because greed has shut their eyes to that with which they've already been graced.
*****
A true friend sacrifices himself for a friend and doesn't hesitate to throw himself into utter turmoil for his friend's sake.
*****
When you rush and overdo at the beginning of a task, your work will remain unfinished and the end result will be unsatisfactory.
*****
Trees may not have leaves or bear fruit in the winter, but don't for a moment imagine that they're asleep, because they're perpetually at work. Winter is a time for saving, while summer is a time for spending. What's spent is obvious to us, but we remain unaware of how anything is originally saved.
*****
What carries us through life is our belief, much like the sail of a ship. When the sail is functioning properly, we will be carried for great distances; but, if it's impaired, words must replace the wind.
*****
The essential purpose of prayer is for people to maintain the state they achieve during prayer.
*****
When I speak, my words are cash in hand. When others talk, it's just talk!
*****
To have faith involves both hope and fear, and neither of them is possible without the other. For instance, a farmer plants wheat and doesn't worry that he may harvest barley, but he still fears drought, pests, and innumerable other calamities. When he has hope in his heart, however, he strives harder to reach his aim, and that hope becomes his wings. The stronger his wings, the higher his flight, with no time for laziness, like a patient who tolerates the bitter taste of medicine in the hope of a speedy recovery.
*****
Your intention is what's important; the rest is simply unnecessary wrangling.
*****
When the heart speaks, who needs language?
*****
God re-creates man anew every second, implementing something fresh in his soul that doesn't resemble anything that was there before. Yet man is completely unaware of this process.
*****
When you entrust a garden of roses to a gardener and you detect only foul odors rising in the air, whom do you blame? The garden, or the gardener?
*****
Regardless of wealth and stature, everyone experiences frustration, restlessness, pain, yearning, longing, and love.
*****
Light fades as the sun sets. But if you can't bear to live without light, you've no choice but to become the sun itself!
*****
In the light of day, all things are visible and clear; but at night, everything is secured under the blanket of darkness.
*****
Wherever you are, you're right where you need to be!
*****
Speaking kindly about others and praising them when praise is due will only reflect positively on you. When we become accustomed to thinking well of others, we live much like the man who plants beautiful flowers and shrubs around his home. Every time he looks outside, he feels as if he's entered paradise.
*****
The things we say and do, whether in praise or in defiance of others, will one day come back to either haunt us, or inspire us with hope.
*****
When our minds decide to go to a new place, our hearts travel there first to check out the terrain, later returning to convey our bodies there.
*****
It's imperative to regard one another with positive and well-meaning eyes, for the traits that we often associate with people are not truly representative of them.
*****
People always fall in love with what they can't have. They readily give up freedom in order to own what they truly can't understand, and they never fully appreciate what they've rightfully owned from the beginning.
*****
It's time to stop grieving! There's abundant joy awaiting us with no sorrow in view! No need to be sad; the rose without thorns is in sight.
*****
Often when you feel upset with your brother's flaws, it's truly yourself who disquiets you.
*****
If you want to love, you must first be enthusiastic about loving!
*****
It gives me immeasurable pleasure to spend time with my friends. I enjoy their company and I hope that they take just as much pleasure in mine—especially because, these days, people lose their friends far too easily. It's imperative to make the effort to see one another, regardless of the negative or positive qualities that we ascribe to ourselves, for these are borrowed traits that, in reality, have very little to do with our true essence.
*****
People's imaginations differ vastly. For example, an architect and a builder both may imagine a house, but the two pictures they have in mind may be an ocean apart.
*****
If you can guide someone out of ignorance and introduce them to wisdom from which they can benefit, or drag them out of their inanimate state and help them return to real life, that's a true miracle!
*****
Human beings are a culmination of their thoughts; the rest is just skin and bones.
*****
People become ungrateful when they can't satisfy all their desires, because greed has shut their eyes to that with which they've already been graced.
*****
A true friend sacrifices himself for a friend and doesn't hesitate to throw himself into utter turmoil for his friend's sake.
*****
When you rush and overdo at the beginning of a task, your work will remain unfinished and the end result will be unsatisfactory.
*****
Trees may not have leaves or bear fruit in the winter, but don't for a moment imagine that they're asleep, because they're perpetually at work. Winter is a time for saving, while summer is a time for spending. What's spent is obvious to us, but we remain unaware of how anything is originally saved.
*****
What carries us through life is our belief, much like the sail of a ship. When the sail is functioning properly, we will be carried for great distances; but, if it's impaired, words must replace the wind.
*****
The essential purpose of prayer is for people to maintain the state they achieve during prayer.
*****
When I speak, my words are cash in hand. When others talk, it's just talk!
*****
To have faith involves both hope and fear, and neither of them is possible without the other. For instance, a farmer plants wheat and doesn't worry that he may harvest barley, but he still fears drought, pests, and innumerable other calamities. When he has hope in his heart, however, he strives harder to reach his aim, and that hope becomes his wings. The stronger his wings, the higher his flight, with no time for laziness, like a patient who tolerates the bitter taste of medicine in the hope of a speedy recovery.
*****
Your intention is what's important; the rest is simply unnecessary wrangling.
*****
When the heart speaks, who needs language?
*****
God re-creates man anew every second, implementing something fresh in his soul that doesn't resemble anything that was there before. Yet man is completely unaware of this process.
Read
February 27, 2024Collected from the Discourses of Rumi, this book mines Rumi’s wisdom through short tales, pithy bits of insight, and much more. Laughter, love, lightning, and insight into what it means to be alive are within.
A few favorites among many:
No matter where you are in life and what your state of mind may be, dare to fall in love and let yourself be loved! When love becomes your realm of being, you are as beloved in life as in death.
-
Tame your wild ego unless you wish to go to war with a different person each day.
-
Joyful pleasures in life can be thought of as a ladder; like the rungs of a ladder, they’re not stations at which to linger, but rather stages through which we pass.
-
Speaking kindly about others and praising them when praise is due will only reflect positively on you. When we become accustomed to thinking well of others, we live much like the man who plants beautiful flowers and shrubs around his home. Every time he looks outside, he feels as if he’s entered paradise.
-
My body may be standing on the shore, but my spirit is itself the endless sea!
-
Not every gallows is built of wood. Position and status, reputation and wealth, can also be mighty gallows.
A few favorites among many:
No matter where you are in life and what your state of mind may be, dare to fall in love and let yourself be loved! When love becomes your realm of being, you are as beloved in life as in death.
-
Tame your wild ego unless you wish to go to war with a different person each day.
-
Joyful pleasures in life can be thought of as a ladder; like the rungs of a ladder, they’re not stations at which to linger, but rather stages through which we pass.
-
Speaking kindly about others and praising them when praise is due will only reflect positively on you. When we become accustomed to thinking well of others, we live much like the man who plants beautiful flowers and shrubs around his home. Every time he looks outside, he feels as if he’s entered paradise.
-
My body may be standing on the shore, but my spirit is itself the endless sea!
-
Not every gallows is built of wood. Position and status, reputation and wealth, can also be mighty gallows.
October 21, 2024
My friends sent me this book after my recent double-lung transplant, along with This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub and Freedom from the Known by J. Krishnamurti. The translations aren't the best in my collection of Rumi books. But the reminder of our time studying Rumi together in Turkey years ago gave me all the feel-goods.
My favorite translation in this collection: "You carry a lamp, foolishly thinking: 'I'll see the sun better with this light.' But what's the use of a lamp when the sun already reveals itself in its full glory?"
And this part reminded me of my illness and the journey I've been on since April: "When you find yourself in the presence of the perfect guide, keep silent, give yourself up to him, and wait. Listen carefully, for he may suddenly offer you guidance by uttering just one word. You may also find yourself entertaining an unfamiliar thought, or a word may roll involuntarily off your tongue that may give you a hint about your guide's spiritual state. You can be certain that it's your guide's high state of consciousness that you're experiencing, because he has imprinted himself onto you."
My favorite translation in this collection: "You carry a lamp, foolishly thinking: 'I'll see the sun better with this light.' But what's the use of a lamp when the sun already reveals itself in its full glory?"
And this part reminded me of my illness and the journey I've been on since April: "When you find yourself in the presence of the perfect guide, keep silent, give yourself up to him, and wait. Listen carefully, for he may suddenly offer you guidance by uttering just one word. You may also find yourself entertaining an unfamiliar thought, or a word may roll involuntarily off your tongue that may give you a hint about your guide's spiritual state. You can be certain that it's your guide's high state of consciousness that you're experiencing, because he has imprinted himself onto you."
July 19, 2021
This book was written for men.
A couple of insights to the wisdom contained in this book…
Women are to be given as gifts to men who have “ugly” wives. Here are some beautiful women … take your pick… I will gift her to you.
There are a few other disparaging wisdoms about women.
There are far better books that offer much more insight for all humanity not slanted like this.
Yes it was written a long time ago and as such makes for historical reading.
I have heard great things about Rumi thought I would give it a go and came away profoundly disappointed, but… now have insights into a few people who recommended this misogynistic tome.
A couple of insights to the wisdom contained in this book…
Women are to be given as gifts to men who have “ugly” wives. Here are some beautiful women … take your pick… I will gift her to you.
There are a few other disparaging wisdoms about women.
There are far better books that offer much more insight for all humanity not slanted like this.
Yes it was written a long time ago and as such makes for historical reading.
I have heard great things about Rumi thought I would give it a go and came away profoundly disappointed, but… now have insights into a few people who recommended this misogynistic tome.
March 3, 2024
Ένα βιβλίο με αποφθέγματα του Σούφι Ρουμί, τα οποία στην πλειοψηφία δε μου ταίριαξαν και με συγχισαν. Μοιρολατρικο με απόλυτη αφοσίωση σε "κάποιο θεό". Συνεχείς αναφορές σε Ιησού, Αλλάχ και Μωυσή αλλά κάπως μπερδεμένες. Δυστυχώς δε μου ταίριαξε. Το βρήκα στη στήλη αυτοβελτιωσης, σίγουρα δεν ανήκει σε αυτή την κατηγορία.
May 18, 2021
Q: To be in love is a priceless gift, because we receive our strength and the will to live from our loved ones. If the thought of an earthly lover can bestow life on us, imagine what the love of our Beloved can do!
January 15, 2022
Words are simply a cover; what really attracts people to one another is what lies in their hearts.
“What would you like to have?” God asked the mystic Bayazid. “I want not to want!” he replied instantly.
“What would you like to have?” God asked the mystic Bayazid. “I want not to want!” he replied instantly.
March 14, 2025
This book is a thought. Reader will get thought for the day. Once you start reading this beauty then boom…. ❤️Magic happens. You will start sinking in their words more and more. I’m wondering what if we read this sculpture in Persian would their essence will more deeper and thoughtful in that?
May 18, 2025
Definitely, a collection item.
Bookmarked quotes: 2, 4, 5, 6, 13, 15, 18, 31, 33, 34, 37, 46, 54, 57, 61, 66, 68, 70, 73, 78, 83, 85, 96, 98, 99, 102, 105, 108, 109, 111, 113, 115, 116, 119, 120, 123, 124, 125, 134, 138, 143, 144, 146, 149, 151, 173, 178, 179, 180, 199, 220, 246, 248, 250.
Bookmarked quotes: 2, 4, 5, 6, 13, 15, 18, 31, 33, 34, 37, 46, 54, 57, 61, 66, 68, 70, 73, 78, 83, 85, 96, 98, 99, 102, 105, 108, 109, 111, 113, 115, 116, 119, 120, 123, 124, 125, 134, 138, 143, 144, 146, 149, 151, 173, 178, 179, 180, 199, 220, 246, 248, 250.
May 26, 2021
A book full of spectrum.
January 7, 2022
You have to read between the lines and against the grain with this one, but if you can get past that and think in applications, its worth it.
May 14, 2022
No matter where you are in life and what is your state of mind maybe, dare to fall in love and let yourself be loved! When Love becomes your realm of being, you are as beloved in life as in death
September 22, 2022
We need constant reminders in life. This book does serve that purpose but not in a wow way.
Some verses might speak to you more than the others.
But not every verse is compelling.
Some verses might speak to you more than the others.
But not every verse is compelling.
December 28, 2022
it was a good book.
April 28, 2023
I wish there wasnt so much about god and “Him”. Few good nuggets of wisdom nonetheless. Easy and short, my first foray into the universe of Rumi.
October 29, 2024
I love anything and everything Rumi
November 17, 2024
A short, useful insight to Rumi's thoughts.
October 21, 2025
Good insights about life and love ❤
December 21, 2025
an amezing series of quotes
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews