By now, it’s highly likely you’ve come across Rumi’s poetry being that his work sells out millions of copies yearly making him the most popular poet in the United States. As it often goes for great artists, they were ahead of their time, meaning they only came to be appreciated many generations later.
Rumi is no exception to this — born in Tajikistan in the year 1207. It’s been roughly 800 years since Rumi was writing poetry, yet his words have never resonated with people more. We’ve got a list of his particular beautiful quotes to give you a primmer on this prolific Persian poet.
- “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 is a beautiful example of the many life lessons from Rumi. Here he touches on the way we often seek out love, be it from our partners or strangers in the form of people-pleasing when the work we must do is in finding out we often discount the many kinds of love we already have in life, be it from friends and family.
- “Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”
This is the perfect inspiring quote for the days we feel overwhelmed by life.
- “Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.”
This can be a hard message to swallow when we’re grieving over a specific something, like a relationship ending. Yet Rumi teaches that things never end; they merely transform.
- “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
This quote has only aged beautifully as we see people becoming more critical of each other instead of turning that criticism inwards to work on themselves.
- “Ignore those that make you fearful and sad, that degrade you back towards disease and death.”
Speaking of critical people, Rumi inspires us to let those types of people out of our life.
- “Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.”
This quote is a gorgeous way to describe the feeling of love we have towards others in our lives when words don’t seem sufficient.
- “Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.”
Yet another beautiful message from Rumi that can help us through times as dark as grieving loss.
- “The wound is the place where the light enters you.”
This is an inspiring quote to remember when your weaknesses feel like obstacles instead of the opportunity for growth Rumi teaches.
- “Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love.”
Rumi had a way of synthesizing complex ideas into a single beautiful phrase. Here he reminds us to infuse whatever we do with joy and enthusiasm — a key to happiness.
- “Be full of sorrow, that you may become hill of joy; weep, that you may break into laughter.”
Rumi gives us one last major life lesson — don’t avoid the difficult aspects of life because they are part and parcel with beautiful aspects.
It’s no wonder Rumi is one of today’s most popular poets — he gave us a wealth of life lessons to inspire us and comfort us even in the darkest times.
