Rumi’s Eternal Wisdom

I recently acquired the book A Year with Rumi: Daily Readings by Coleman Barks on my Kindle. This book features 365 of Coleman Barks’ elegant translations of Rumi’s great poems.

Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rumi, popularly known simply as Rumi, was a 13th century Persian Poet. His poetry, originally in Persian, is spiritual wisdom captured in verses and popularized by Coleman Barker through his English translations. When you read Rumi’s quotes and poems, there is deep wisdom that is contemplative and inspirational.

I share below 25 of my favorite quotes derived from Rumi’s poems and address spiritual aspects of the mind, body, soul, love, emotions, solitude, consciousness, and nature of the universe.

1. Silence is the language of god. All else is poor translation.
2. The quieter we become, the more we can hear.
3. As you walk on the way, the way appears.
4. It’s your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.
5. Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.
6. The inspiration you seek is already within you. Be silent and listen.
7. Always remember, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and twice as beautiful as you’d ever imagined.
8. Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world, today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
9. See through the eyes of compassion, listen with the ears of tolerance, speak with the language of love.
10. We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us.
11. Gratitude is the wine for the soul. Go on, get drunk.
12. If you are looking for a friend who is faultless, you will be friendless.
13. Life is a balance of holding and letting go.
14. The wound is the place where the light enters you.
15. You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?
16. Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.
17. Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.
18. Set your life on fire and seek those who fan your flames.
19. You think because you understand “one,” you must also understand “two,” because one and one make two. But you must also understand “and.”(This one is profound. I had to read it a few times to get the drift)
20. A candle never loses any of its light while lighting another candle.
21. Do not look back, no one knows how the world ever began. Do not fear the future, nothing lasts forever. If you dwell on the past or future, you will miss the moment.
22. Appear as you are, or be as you appear.
23. When you are everywhere, you are nowhere. When you are somewhere, you are everywhere.
24. Whenever you are alone, remind yourself god has sent everyone away so that there is only you and him.
25. He who cannot discover himself, cannot discover the world.