Mawlana Jalal Al Din Rumi Quotes

If you want the moon, do not hide from the night.
If you want a rose, do not run from the thorns.
If you want love, do not hide from yourself. ~ Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words. ~ Rumi

Love is the dancing cry of the soul,
Calling the body to worship
Like a shining whirlpool, or a spinning mayfly
So is love among the skies.
I leap across the mountaintops,
Madly singing the song of all songs
I float through the ether, intoxicated, thrilled
I think only of your love, your calling to me
And I dance the thousand dances of love,
All returning to you. ~ Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

Ten years ago a book appeared in France called D'Une foi l'autre, les conversions a l'Islam en Occident. The authors, both career journalists, carried out extensive interviews with new Muslims in Europe and America. Their conclusions are clear. Almost all educated converts to Islam come in through the door of Islamic spirituality. In the middle ages, the Sufi tariqas were the only effective engine of Islamisation in Muslim minority areas like Central Asia, India, black Africa and Java; and that pattern is maintained today.

Why should this be the case? Well, any new Muslim can tell you the answer. Westerners are in the first instance seeking not a moral path, or a political ideology, or a sense of special identity - these being the three commodities on offer among the established Islamic movements. They lack one thing, and they know it - the spiritual life. Thus, handing the average educated Westerner a book by Sayyid Qutb, for instance, or Mawdudi, is likely to have no effect, and may even provoke a revulsion. But hand him or her a collection of Islamic spiritual poetry, and the reaction will be immediately more positive. It is an extraordinary fact that the best-selling religious poet in modern America is our very own Jalal al-Din Rumi. Despite the immeasurably different time and place of his origin, he outsells every Christian religious poet.

Islam and the New Millennium ~ Abdal Hakim Murad

That moon, which the sky ne'er saw even in dreams, has returned
And brought a fire no water can quench.
See the body' s house, and see my. soul,
This made drunken and that desolate by the cup of his love.
When the host of the tavern became my heart-mate,
My blood turned to wine and my heart to kabab.
When the eye is filled with thought of him, a voice arrives :
W ell done, O flagon, and bravo, wine!
Love's fingers tear up, root and stem,
Every house where sunbeams fall from love.
When my heart saw love's sea, of a sudden
It left me and leaped in, crying, , Find me.'
The face of Shamsi Din, Tabriz's glory, is the sun
In whose track the cloud-like hearts are moving ~ Rumi

Your coat is beautiful, but where's your brain? ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

The home we seek is in eternity; The Truth we seek is like a shoreless sea, Of which your paradise is but a drop. This ocean can be yours; why should you stop Beguiled by dreams of evanescent dew? The secrets of the sun are yours, but you Content yourself with motes trapped in its beams. Turn to what truly lives, reject what seems
Which matters more, the body or the soul? Be whole: desire and journey to the Whole. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

It was a vain attempt at indifference, on both their parts.

For Shahrzad bore silent witness to the truth. It was only for an instant, and they never glanced at each other. Yet, she wondered how anyone could miss it - the subtle shift in Jalal's shoulders, and the telltale tilt to Despina's head.

Shahrzad smiled knowingly. ~ Renee Ahdieh

I am alone; make me your single goal --
My presence is sufficient for your soul;
I am your God, your one necessity --
With every breath you breathe, remember Me. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

A man whose eyes love opens risks his soul - His dancing breaks beyond the mind's control. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

In this valley, Love is represented by fire, Reason by smoke. When Love bursts into flame, Reason is forthwith dissipated like smoke. Reason cannot coexist with Love's mania, for Love has nothing whatever to do with human Reason. If ever you attain a clear vision of the unseen world, then only will you be able to realize the source of Love. By the odour of Love every atom in the world is intoxicated. It owes its existence to the existence of Love. If ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

Were you indeed not blinded by the Curse Of Self-exile, that still grows worse and worse, Yourselves would know that, though you see him not, He is with you this Moment, on this Spot ... ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

If the eye of the heart is open, in each atom there will be one hundred secrets ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

The Sea
Will be the Sea
Whatever the drop's philosophy. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

Be always at work scraping the dirt from the well.
To everyone who suffers, perseverance brings good fortune.
The Prophet has said that each prostration of prayer is a knock on heaven's door. When anyone continues to knock, felicity shows its smiling face. ~ Rumi Muhammad Jalal Ud Din Balkhi

Submission, when it is submission to the truth - and when the truth is known to be both beautiful and merciful - has nothing in common with fatalism or stoicism as these terms are understood in the Western tradition, because its motivation is different. According to Fakhr ad-Din ar-RazT, one of the great commentators upon the Quran: The worship of the eyes is
weeping, the worship of the ears is listening, the worship of the tongue is praise, the worship of the hands is giving, the worship of the body is effort, the worship of the heart is fear and hope, and the worship of the spirit is surrender and satisfaction in Allah. ~ Fakhr Al-Din Al-Razi

The ocean can be yours; why should you stop
Beguiled by dreams of evanescent dew?
The secrets of the sun are yours, but you
Content yourself with motes trapped in beams. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

Then I saw you through myself and found we were identical. ~ Fakhr-al-Din Iraqi

His part is mercy, ours is endless praise. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

Strive to discover the mystery
before life is taken from you.
If while living you fail to find yourself,
to know yourself,
how will you be able to understand
the secret of your existence
after you die? ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

Beware of an argument with an adversary who is a quibbler of a perverse nature, for [undesirable] character creeps into one stealthily; habits are contagious and proximity [to those of lowly character] leaves it traces. ~ Burhan Al-Din Al-Zarnuji

Love is a cruel pain that devours everything. Sometimes it tears the veil from the soul, sometimes it draws it together. An atom of love is preferable to all that exists between the horizons, an atom of its pain better than the happy love of all lovers. Love is the marrow of beings; but there can be no real love without real suffering. Whoever is grounded firm in love renounces faith, religion, and unbelief. Love will open the door of spiritual poverty and poverty will show you the way of unbelief. When there remains neither unbelief nor religion, your body and your soul will disappear; you will then be worthy of the mysteries- if you could fathom them, this is the only way. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

A thousand for his love expired each day, And those who saw his face, in blank dismay Would rave and grieve and mourn their lives away- To die for love of that bewitching sight Was worth a hundred lives without his light. None could survive his absence patiently, None could endure this king's proximity- How strange it was that man could neither brook The presence nor the absence of his look! ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

To seek death is death's only cure. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

Do you think you're invincible? That you live off nothing but fresh dew and cold fury? ~ Renee Ahdieh

Human reasoning does not compass everything in all respects, just as vision does not reveal all things to sight. ~ Burhan Al-Din Al-Zarnuji

Oh soul,
you worry too much.
You have seen your own strength.
You have seen your own beauty.
You have seen your golden wings.
Of anything less,
why do you worry?
You are in truth
the soul, of the soul, of the soul. ~ Rumi

In what world did you think you could get away with this?" Jalal seethed. "To my cousin? To my family?" His gleaming hilt continued its punishing onslaught. ~ Renee Ahdieh

When first you enter Wisdom's sea, beware-A wave of indecision floods you there. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

Cupbearer, fill the bowl with blood, not wine --
And if you lack the heart's rich blood, take mine.
Love thrives on inextinguishable pain;
Which tears the soul, then knits the threads again. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

Jalal," she said, "I can explain."
"There's no need."
"I'm not - "
"I told you; there's no need." He spoke simply. "I trust you. ~ Renee Ahdieh

You are free to leave, as well." Khalid resumed his trek toward his chamber.
Jalal cut it front of Khalid. "You look terrible." His eyes were bright, and his forehead was lined with worry. ~ Renee Ahdieh

You have the colours of
Those jewels you so inordinately love,
And yet you seem -- like your excuses -- lame. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

I-" Irsa took a careful breath to steady her words. " I have felt alone for most of my life. Until you." She placed the shell on his chest. " But I promise I won't feel alone anymore. I will never forget." She stood on shaky feet. "I will always remember."
"I love you Rahim al-Din Walad . Thank you for loving me in return. ~ Renee Ahdieh

Murderer, monster, madman... Khalid may very well be all of those things. But he's also loved. By me and by my father. But, most of all, by Shazi. With her, he is as fiercely loved as he loves. ~ Renee Ahdieh

Contrary to some opinions, fard 'ain knowledge is not limited to the basic Islamic knowledge learned at the primary and secondary school levels but is a dynamic and ever-expanding field depending on the maturity and capacity of a person, as has been brilliantly explained by al-Ghazali more than 900 years ago; followed by Burhan al-Din al-Zarnuji and restated in our times by al-Attas. ~ Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud

The fruit of love's great tree is poverty; Whoever knows this knows humility. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

Without demolishing religious schools (madrassahs) and minarets and without abandoning the beliefs and ideas of the medieval age, restriction in thoughts and pains in conscience will not end. Without understanding that unbelief is a kind of religion, and that conservative religious belief a kind of disbelief, and without showing tolerance to opposite ideas, one cannot succeed. Those who look for the truth will accomplish the mission.
Mevlana Jalal ad-Din RUMI ~ Rumi

Jalal shook his head and moved toward Khalid. "She is. Please give her a chance to explain."
"Leave," Khalid commanded quietly.
"Don't let your fear and your distrust ruin this."
His uncle took Jalal by the shoulder.
"She loves you!" Jalal continued, his tone heedless. "This is not what it seems. Maybe it began as something else, but I would bet my life on what it is now. She loves you. Please don't fall to hate. You're not your father. You are so much more. She is so much more. ~ Renee Ahdieh

The people of this world are like the three butterflies
in front of a candle's flame.

The first one went closer and said:
I know about love.

The second one touched the flame
lightly with his wings and said:
I know how love's fire can burn.

The third one threw himself into the heart of the flame
and was consumed. He alone knows what true love is. ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

Yea, my friends, we have a king, whose name is Simurg, and whose residence is behind Mount Caucasus. He is close by, but we are far away from Him. The road to His throne is bestrewn with obstructions; more than a hundred thousand veils of light and darkness screen the throne. Hundreds of thousands of souls burn with an ardent passion to see Him, but no one is able to find his way to Him. Yet none can afford to do without Him. Supreme manliness, absolute fearlessness and complete self-effacement are needed to overcome those obstacles. If we succeed in getting a glimpse of His face, it will be an achievement indeed. If we do not attempt it, and if we fail to greet the Beloved, this life is not worth living." The ~ Farid Al-Din Attar

I'm angry that George Bush got to be in the White House, and I'm angry that [Al] Gore wasn't able to be a better candidate after eight years of a great economy and being an incumbent. ~ Eddie Vedder

I've spent my entire career being a satirist. ~ Al Franken

No doubt that the U.S. is a super-power capable of conquering a relatively small country, but is it able to control it? ~ Bashar Al-Assad

I did listen to 1920s jazz or Al Johnson and a lot of early singers coming out of England. I would branch out a little bit to get a sense of the world that he might be coming into, in the '30s when jazz was changing. ~ Ed Speleers

I seek the spread of freedom and democracy in the way that satisfies God. [Americans] have planned and paved the ways for a long time, but it is God who is the real planner
and the proof of this is the fall of the American twin towers[ ... ]a miracle from God. ~ Muqtada Al Sadr

When the ocean surges, don't let me just hear it. Let it splash inside my chest! ~ Rumi

You sit here for days saying, This is strange business. You're the strange business. You have the energy of the sun in you, but you keep knotting it up at the base of your spine. You're some weird kind of gold that wants to stay melted in the furnace, so you won't have to become coins. ~ Rumi

My wheels are running. My investments are local, regional and international. ~ Al-Waleed Bin Talal

I was doing a play out in L.A. 20-some-odd years ago called 'Goose and Tomtom' by David Rabe, and somebody saw it and the next thing I know I'm doing the table read of the film version of 'Glengarry Glen Ross' with Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon - one of the great films of our generation. ~ Richard Schiff

We are living at a time where there are so many films available to watch through so many formats all the time. It's hard for any film to stand out in that din. ~ Megan Griffiths