English Rumi Thoughts

"Society with saints no doubt’s of great avail To piety it leads; ‘God’s fear shall never fail.’ Thou wast a very rock, a worthless pebble-stone, By saints’ communion fined, a pearl of price thou’st shone"

"From the moment you came into the world of being A ladder was placed before you that you might escape, First you were mineral, later you turned to plant, Then you became animal: how should this be a secret to you? Afterwards you were made man, with knowledge, reason, faith, Behold the body which is a portion of the dust-pit, how perfect it has grown! When you have travelled on from man, you will doubtless become an angel, After that you are done with this earth; your station is in heaven"

"Thou mouldest of foul and fair the form of a man That he may flee two leagues from the odour of foulness; Thou mak’st him a morsel of dust that he may become pure herbage, He is free from filth when Thou hast breathed into him a soul"

"I will not shun thy blow, for very crude Is the heart that ne’er burned in the fire of thine affliction, To thy praise and praisers there is no end, What atom but is reeling with thy praise?"

"My heart is weary of these weak-spirited companions, I desire the Lion of God (Ali) and Rustam son of Zal, Filings of beauty are in the possession of every one that exists, I desire that quarry and that mine of exquisite loveliness"

"I still am dark compared to the sun Though I am light compared to the dark souls of men, Therefore is my light weak that you may bear it, For you are not strong enough to bear the dazzling sun, I have, as it were, mixed honey with vinegar, To succour the sweetness of your hearts"

"Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving — it doesn't matter, Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times, Come, come again, come"

"Strange as it may seem to our Western egoism, the prospect of sharing in the general, impersonal immortality of the human soul kindles in the Sufi an enthusiasm as deep and triumphant as that of the most ardent believer in a personal life continuing beyond the grave. Jalaluddin, after describing the evolution of man in the material world and anticipating his further growth in the spiritual universe, utters a heartfelt prayer — for what? — for self-annihilation in the ocean of the Godhead"

"Place a sword in his hand and remove his impotence To see if he turns out a warrior or a robber; Because freewill is that with which ‘We honour Adam,’ Half the swarm become bees, and half wasps"

"One said ‘The world would be a pleasant place, If death never set foot within it’; Another answered ‘If there were no death, The complicated world would not be worth a jot. It would be a crop raised in the desert Left neglected and never threshed out.’"

"Our life’s our quiver. When our years are vainly spent In chasing phantoms, grief one day will have its vent. Let God’s protection mercifully on us rest, All fancies and all phantoms stand at once confessed, God’s servants are His shadows here below on earth To this world dead, but living in a second birth"

"On the day that you entered upon existence You were first fire, or earth, or air, If you had continued in that your original state, How could you have arrived at this dignity of humanity"