Rumi Quotes on Knowledge
Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207–1273) wrote the Masnavi-ye Ma'navi — six books of more than twenty-five thousand couplets that constitute the central Sufi philosophical poem in the Persian tradition — together with the lyrical Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi composed under the inspiration of his beloved spiritual companion Shams of Tabriz. The principal teaching is that the human heart is the locus at which the divine reality discloses itself, and that the disciplined love (ishq) of the seeker for the divine beloved is therefore the proper organ of metaphysical knowledge — knowledge that exceeds, without contradicting, the knowledge available to discursive reason. The Masnavi remains the classical statement of philosophical Sufism and one of the most widely read works of religious literature ever composed.
Quotes
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Attributed to Rumi:
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
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“Kabir Helminski (ed.) The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations (2000)”
He whose intellect overcomes his desire is higher than the angels; he whose desire overcomes his intellect is less than an animal. -
“Timothy Freke, Rumi Wisdom: Daily Teachings from the Great Sufi Master (2000)”
The fault is in the one who blames. Spirit sees nothing to criticize. -
“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.”
I, 232-3 (tr. Helminski, 1990) -
“I, 232-3 (tr. Helminski, 1990)”
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. -
“Fortunate is he who does not carry envy as a companion.”
I, 431 (tr. Helminski, 1990) -
“I, 431 (tr. Helminski, 1990)”
Fortunate is he who does not carry envy as a companion. -
“The idol of your self is the mother of all idols. To regard the self as easy to subdue is a mistake.”
I, 760-2 (tr. Helminski, 1990) -
“I, 760-2 (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. -
“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.”
Masnavi | I, 3004-5 (tr. Helminski, 1990) -
“If the sleeping spirit knew itself to be asleep, Whatever it might see, it would feel neither joy nor sorrow.”
A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations(1911) | p. 244, Diwan-i-Shams-i-Tabriz (Nicholson) -
“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.”
Masnavi | "The States of the Lover" (tr. Gamard and Farhadi) -
“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.”
Masnavi | "Advice to the Disciple and Aspirant" (tr. Gamard and Farhadi) -
“Ah, me! so poor, can I declare that friend, who never had another friend his like,—none, therefore, who could know his soul?”
Pebbles, Pearls and Gems of the Orient(1882) | "The Ineffable One", no. 493 -
“We used to be on the earth, ignorant of the earth, Ignorant of the treasure buried within it.”
A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations(1911) | p. 39 (Whinfield) -
“Thou wilt never more endure without the flame, when thou hast known the rapture of burning. If the water of life should come to thee, it would not stir thee from the flame.”
A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations(1911) | p. 60, Diwan-i-Shams-i-Tabriz (Nicholson)