Short annotations of my favorite quotes from Rumi
“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.”― Rumi
This quote is a constant reminder that we do not seek love, we are made from it and will naturally gravitate towards it. The only thing stopping us is the worldly walls we build up during challenges and transitions. This quote also emphasizes that love is destined as it exists in each one of us; not as something externally attainable.
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there.When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.” - Rumi
This quote can have multiple meanings for different people but the one I like to believe is ‘to be’. As the world battles the notions of right and wrong, meet people at the level of just a ‘being’; not the most perfect one, not the worst one, just a being that is one with the universe, with no care of creating differences between us. It also explores the bitter truth of how even death does not stop the chatter of the world. Rumi speaks about how our ‘soul’ ultimately lies on the grass and despite being this close to the fragility of life; we continue to talk about right and wrong.
“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”― Rumi
In this simple yet profound quote, you can find Rumi compares ‘joy’ to the movement of a river. Water being a representation of calmness and tranquility indicates that joy too is a destined part of life on earth. So long as we shall exist, joy will exist to withhold that existence. The idea here is to understand how passion and meaningful experiences that originate from your soul, not your pragmatic ways of the mind, can bring you joy.
“Silence is the language of god, all else is poor translation.”― Rumi
Silence is not always comforting but most emotional experiences demand a few seconds of silence to fully actualize the moment. Whether that’s loss, birth, overwhelm or joy, that silence is needed to process through that life-altering feeling. Most enlightenment is usually also found in the air around silence. When we connect God and silence, we add divinity to the profoundness in silence. It could also be emphasizing that God is all-knowing as silence has no beginning or end; it is unceasing. Another part this quote sheds light on is how the word of God remains a mystery. All the translation in this world is ‘poor’ as the language of God is one that exists in nothingness and incomprehensible to one looking for direct meaning. It is found in the emptiness and wholeness of silence.
“Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.”― Rumi
This is a quote that dwells upon the nature of duality in this world. We come from nothing and become something and undeniably return to nothingness again. This quote is a great reminder on understanding the highs and lows of our life; we shall experience the darkness in the ‘ruins’ but the ‘hope for treasure’ will ensure our existence and build resilience against all challenges.
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