The Rumi Collection Quotes

“When our guides and those who are cherished by us leave and disappear, they are not annihilated, they are like stars that vanish into the light of the sun of reality.”
― Rumi, The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

“I felt I was drowning in my negativity. There was no hope of room for patience and no means of escape, no way to either repent or rebel I felt I could not undo the lock.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“Many of the faults you see in others, dear reader, are your own nature reflected in them. As the Prophet said, “The faithful are mirrors to one another.” MATHNAWI I, 1319, 1328”
― Rumi, The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

“Water in the boat is the ruin of the boat, but water under the boat is its support.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“All people, all possible permutations of good, evil, thought, passion. The lamps are different, But the Light is the same.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“God's Shams of Tabriz says to the heart's bud, "If your eyes are opened, you'll see the things worth seeing.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“And so it is, that both the Devil and the angelic Spirit present us with objects of desire to awaken our power of choice. There is an invisible strength within us; when it recognizes two opposing objects of desire, it grows stronger.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“It would be as if a king sent you to a village on a specific mission. If you went and performed a hundred other tasks, but neglected to accomplish the task for which you were sent, it would be as though you had done nothing.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“If love were only spiritual, the practices of fasting and prayer would not exist.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“Life's waters flow from darkness. Search the darkness, don't run from it.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“God continually turns you from one state of feeling to another, revealing truth by means of opposites.... So that you may have the two wings of fear and hope; for the bird with one wing is unable to fly....”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“If night never came, people would waste themselves pursuing all that they desire. They would give their own bodies to be consumed for the sake of their desires and greed, but night appears, a treasure of Mercy...”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“WITH GOD THERE IS NO ROOM FOR TWO EGOS. You say “I,” and He says “I.” In order for this duality to disappear, either you must die for Him or He for you. It is not possible, however, for Him to die—either phenomenally or conceptually—because “He is the Ever-living who dieth not.” He is so gracious, however, that if it were possible He would die for you in order that the duality might disappear.”
― Rumi, The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

“Don't be the rider who gallops all night and never sees the horse that is beneath him.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“All the tears which we creatures shed for Him are not tears as many think but pearls....”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“I’m the devoted slave of anyone who doesn’t claim to have attained dining with God at every way station. Many inns must be left behind before you reach your home.”
― Rumi, The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

“Until the mother faces the pain of childbirth, the child cannot be born. The Divine Trust is in the heart, and the heart is pregnant: the counsels of the prophets and the wise are like the midwife.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“If you want a customer who will pay in gold, could there be a better customer than God, O my heart? He buys our dirty bag of goods, and in return gives us an inner light lent from His splendor.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“The body is not hidden from the soul, nor is the soul hidden from the body, and yet the soul is not for everyone to see.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“Make it your habit to behold the Light without the glass, so that when the glass is shattered you may not be left blind.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“What does not come into man's imagination is called a "gift" because whatever passes through his imagination is in proportion to his aspiration and his worth. However, God's gift is in proportion to God's worth....no matter how much eyes have seen, ears heard, or minds conceived the gift you expect of Me, My gift is above and beyond all that.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“If metal can be polished
to a mirrorlike finish,
what polishing might the mirror
of the heart require?

Between the mirror and the heart
is this single difference:
the heart conceals secrets,
while the mirror does not.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“Wherever a pain is, that's where the cure goes; wherever poverty is, that's where provision goes. Wherever a difficult question is, that's where the answer goes; wherever a ship is, water goes to it. Don't seek the water; increase your thirst, so water may gush forth from above and below.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“Cerul este Bărbatul, iar pământul, Femeia!”
― Rumi, The Rumi Collection

“If love were only spiritual, the practices of fasting and prayer would not exist. The gifts of lovers to one another are, in respect to love, nothing but forms; yet, they testify to invisible love.”
― Rumi, The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

“INWARD OCCUPATION When Satan sees, to the left or right, anyone who is perfect, he becomes ill with envy, for every wretch whose stack has been burnt is unwilling that anyone else’s candle should be lighted. Pay attention and work on perfecting yourself, so that the perfection of others may not grieve you. Beg of God the removal of envy, that God may deliver you from externals, and bestow upon you an inward occupation, which will absorb you so that your attention is not drawn away.”
― Rumi, The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

“The mind of the poet works in this pattern of pain, a place beyond linear logic, a multidimensional world of sound, rhythm, pattern, meaning, and reason all at once. The poet shuffles all of these dimensions until he finds a shape, a structure that begins to hold the meaning and the essence of what is compelling him to communicate.”
― Kabir Helminski, The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

“What sprouts up every spring will wither by autumn, but the rose garden of Love is always green.”
― Kabir Helminski, The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

“Journey forth from your own self to God's Self—voyage without end.”
― Kabir Helminski, The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi