Rumi
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī was a Muslim poet, theologian, jurist, Sufi mystic and one of the greatest philosophers whose ideas and works teach us to challenge our fear and smash the difficulties with courageous heart. Rumi’s magical words give a positive affirmation to take action and have unbreakable faith in our every move. He teaches us to embrace setbacks and look inside for strength and stability.
The impact and influence of Rumi on literature, philosophy, mysticism and culture has been so profound that some of the greatest religious preachers, philosophers, scholars and intellectuals felt deeply affected and inspired to use his words of wisdom as reference. Rumi primarily emphasized on the connection between man and God, and the relationship between man and man and lived in music, poetry, dance and finding a way of reaching to God. Rumi’s popularity is not confined in an area specific. For centuries his work has been widely read in the West and can be seen in the works of some eminent writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. In 1997, Rumi, according to Christian Science Monitor, became America’s best-selling poet.
Rumi was born on 30 September, 1207 in the village of Wakhsh to native Persian speaking parents. His father Baha al-Din was a well-known theologian, jurist and religious scholar under whom Rumi received early education. Rumi’s works are mostly written in the New Persian language and his Mathnawi is known to the purest literary glories of Persian language. Some of his major works are the Maṭnawīye Ma’nawī (a six-volume poem that is considered to be one of the greatest works on mystical poetry.), the Dīwān-e Kabīr (comprising some forty thousand verses), Fihi Ma Fihi (Document of seventy-one talks and lectures of Rumi to his disciples), Makatib (The Book comprises of his letters to his family members, disciples, and others in Persia). Rumi’s works also include about 35000 Persian couplets and 2000 Persian quatrains, the Divan comprises 90 Ghazals and 19 quatrains in Arabic, couplets in Turkish and 14 couplets in Greek.
He died on 17 December in 1273 in Konya and his body was buried beside of his father.
Info Source: wikipedia.org
Rumi Quotes:
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
“This being human is a guest house. Every morning is a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor…Welcome and entertain them all. Treat each guest honorably. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
“Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.”
“In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.”
“There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled. You feel it, don’t you?”
“Be like the sun for grace and mercy. Be like the night to cover others’ faults. Be like running water for generosity. Be like death for rage and anger. Be like the Earth for modesty. Appear as you are. Be as you appear.”
“Reason is powerless in the expression of Love.”
“Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.”
