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Rumi

68 quotes

“Forgive our faults; the true lover seeks God's presence itself, not paradise.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Instead of clinging to the deceptive appearances of this world, one should turn to God from the depths of the soul, with sincerity.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The intellect cannot comprehend the creed of love.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The very One who makes your heart heavy and sorrowful is the same One who makes you flourish, fresh, and rose-colored. The very One who moves you to pray is the same One who grants the reward of prayer.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Divine love elevates and sanctifies everything; without love, the world is worthless and incomplete.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He whose intellect overcomes his desire is higher than the angels; he whose desire overcomes his intellect is less than an animal.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kabir Helminski (ed.) The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations (2000)
“The fault is in the one who blames. Spirit sees nothing to criticize.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Timothy Freke, Rumi Wisdom: Daily Teachings from the Great Sufi Master (2000)
“This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace to extract the silver from the dross. This testing purifies the gold by boiling the scum away.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 232-3 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“Fortunate is he who does not carry envy as a companion.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 431 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“The idol of your self is the mother of all idols. To regard the self as easy to subdue is a mistake.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 760-2 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“If you wish mercy, show mercy to the weak.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 822 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“If you dig a pit for others to fall into, you will fall into it yourself.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 1311 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“Many of the faults you see in others, dear reader, are your own nature reflected in them.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 1319 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 1389
“Whoever gives reverence receives reverence.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 1494 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“Were there no men of vision, all who are blind would be dead.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 2133 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“If you are wholly perplexed and in straits, have patience, for patience is the key to joy.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 2908 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 2980 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“Anyone in whom the troublemaking self has died, sun and cloud obey. As his heart is afire with knowledge and love, the sun cannot burn him.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 3004-5 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“If you wish to shine like day, burn up the night of self-existence. Dissolve in the Being who is everything.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 3009-12 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“There is no worse sickness for the soul, O you who are proud, than this pretense of perfection. The heart and eyes must bleed a lot before self-complacency falls away.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I, 3213-5 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly, not one.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: II, 1552; 1554 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“When the remedy you have offered only increases the disease, then leave him who will not be cured, and tell your story to someone who seeks the truth.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: II, 2067 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
“Whoever enters the Way without a guide will take a hundred years to travel a two-day journey.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: III, 588 (tr. W. C. Chittick, 1983)
“Whoever undertakes a profession without a master becomes the laughingstock of city and town.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even though you're not equipped, keep searching: equipment isn't necessary on the way to the Lord.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: III, 1445-49 (tr. Helminski, 1996)
“If an ant seeks the rank of Solomon, don't smile contemptuously upon its quest. Everything you possess of skill, and wealth and handicraft, wasn't it first merely a thought and a quest?”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: III, 1445-49 (tr. Helminski, 1996)
“Come, seek, for search is the foundation of fortune: Every success depends upon focusing the heart.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: III, 2302-5 (tr. Helminski, 1996)
“That which God said to the rose, and caused it to laugh in full-blown beauty, He said to my heart, and made it a hundred times more beautiful.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: III, 4129 (tr. Helminski, 1996)
“Many have been led astray by the Qur'an: by clinging to that rope many have fallen into the well. There is no fault in the rope, O perverse man, for it was you who had no desire to reach the top.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: III, 4210-11 (tr. Helminski, 1996)
“The eye of outward sense is as the palm of a hand, The whole of the object is not grasped in the palm. The sea itself is one thing, the foam another; Neglect the foam, and regard the sea with your eyes.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you see anyone complaining of such and such a person's ill-nature and bad temper, know that the complainant is bad-tempered, forasmuch as he speaks ill of that bad-tempered person, because he alone is good-tempered who is quietly forbearing towards the bad-tempered and ill-natured.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: IV, 771-4 (tr. Helminski, 1996)
“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more — more unseen forms become manifest to him.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Love is the ark appointed for the righteous, Which annuls the danger and provides a way of escape. Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. Cleverness is mere opinion, bewilderment intuition.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Reason is like an officer when the King appears; The officer then loses his power and hides himself. Reason is the shadow cast by God; God is the sun.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How can these works and this earning in the way of righteousness be accomplished without a master, O father? Can you practice the meanest profession in the world without a master's guidance?”
Rumi (1207–1273) first seen 1051 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: V, 1051-55 (tr. Chittick)
“Are you fleeing from Love because of a single humiliation? What do you know of Love except the name? Love has a hundred forms of pride and disdain, and is gained by a hundred means of persuasion. Since Love is loyal, it purchases one who is loyal: it has no interest in a disloyal companion. The human being resembles a tree; its root is a covenant with God: that root must be cherished with all one's might.”
Rumi (1207–1273) first seen 1163 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: V, 1163-1169 (tr. Helminski, 1996)
“If in thirst you drink water from a cup, you see God in it. Those who are not in love with God will see only their own faces in it.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: VI, 3640 (ed. Fadiman and Frager, 1997)
“The lower self does not want anyone to receive anything from anybody else, and if it is aware of something receiving a special boon, it seeks to destroy it.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whatever possessions and objects of its desires the lower self may obtain, it hangs on to them, refusing to let them go out of greed for more, or out of fear of poverty and need.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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.'”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I Died as a Mineral" (tr. R. A. Nicholson, 1914)
“This is what is signified by the words Anā l-Ḥaqq, "I am God." People imagine that it is a presumptuous claim, whereas it is really a presumptuous claim to say Ana 'l-'abd, "I am the slave of God"; and Anā l-Ḥaqq, "I am God" is an expression of great humility. The man who says Ana 'l-'abd, "I am the servant of God" affirms two existences, his own and God's, but he that says Anā l-Ḥaqq, "I am God" has made himself non-existent and has given himself up and says "I am God", that is, "I am naught, He is all; there is no being but God's." This is the extreme of humility and self-abasement.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Deification" (tr. R. A. Nicholson, 1950). Commenting on the famous expression of Mansur al-Hallaj, for which al-Hallaj was executed as a blasphemer
“The branch might seem like the fruit's origin: In fact, the branch exists because of the fruit.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: You Are the Macrocosm" (tr. Andrew Harvey, 1999)
“There's no courage", The Prophet said, "before the war has begun." Drunkards vaunt their bravery when you speak of war. But in the blaze of battle they scatter like mice. I'm astonished by the man who wants purity And yet trembles when the harshness of polishing begin... When a man beats a carpet again and again It's not the carpet he's attacking, but the dirt in it.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Andrew Harvey (religious writer)
“Love is the path and road of our Prophet We were born from Love and Love was our mother. O you who are our mother, you are hidden within veils, Concealed from our disbelieving natures”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The States of the Lover" (tr. Gamard and Farhadi, 2008)
“The fire of Love cooks me Every night it drags me to the Tavern. It seats me with the People of the Tavern So that no one except the People of the Tavern will know me.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By eating meagerly, you become clever and aware. And by eating gluttonously, you become foolish and idle. Your being full of misery is entirely from your gluttony. You will become less miserable if you become a sparse eater.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you dwell with unaware people, you will be cold, But if you dwell with aware ones, you will be a true man Go, and build your hermit cell inside a furnace, like gold If you go out of the furnace, you will be frozen solid”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dwell in the place where your companions are spiritual heroes, So that they may wash the foul soot from your [heart] Don't think about their faults, for they Will know about it before you think.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am so happy, I cannot be contained in the world; But like a spirit, I am hidden from the eyes of the world. If the foot of the trees were not tied to earth, they would be pursuing me; For I have blossomed so much, I am the envy of the gardens.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1740:1-3 (tr. Fatemeh Keshavarz, 1998)