Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic. His poems have been translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats.
His full name was Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, and he was born in 1207 AD in Northwest Afghanistan and died on December 17, 1273 AD in Konya, Turkey.
Rumi’s works are written in Persian, but his thoughts are universal. Rumi believed that a person who God has touched is like an instrument in which the whole universe resonates.
His work is still as relevant today as it was centuries ago. He has been called the “most prominent and influential Muslim poet of all time” by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in Amman, Jordan. Rumi’s work continues to be popular in many countries, especially the United States and Turkey, with translations into numerous languages.
Here are some of his wise and powerful quotes and sayings collected from various sources over the years that will bring you light, joy, and love.
Top 87 Inspiring Rumi Quotes That Will Open Your Mind
“When will you begin that long journey into yourself? Rumi”
“The quieter you become the more you are able to hear.”
“When the world pushes you to your knees, you’re in the perfect position to pray.”
“Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.”
“Anyone who genuinely and consistently with both hands looks for something, will find it.”
“Work. Keep digging your well. Water is there somewhere.”
“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. Cleverness is mere opinion. Bewilderment brings intuitive knowledge.”
“In each moment the fire rages, it will burn away a hundred veils. And carry you a thousand steps toward your goal.”
“The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are.”
“There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.”
“Why should I be unhappy? Every parcel of my being is in full bloom.”
“We are one. Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.”
“As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”
“The moment you accept what troubles you’ve been given, the door will open.”
“Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.”
“Become the sky. Take an axe to the prison wall. Escape.”
“Silence gives answers.”
“Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.”
“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life.”
“Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”
“It’s your road, and yours alone, others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.”
“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.”
“When you do things from the soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”
“Be full of sorrow, that you may become hill of joy; weep, that you may break into laughter.”
“Why are you so enchanted by this world when a mine of gold lies within you?”
“Achieve some perfection yourself, so that you may not fall into sorrow by seeing the perfection in others.”
“Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life.”
“You are not meant for crawling, so don’t. You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.”
“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open.”
“What matters is how quickly you do what your soul directs.”
“When you let go of who you are, you become who you might be.”
“Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.”
“Ignore those that make you fearful and sad, that degrade you back towards disease and death.”
“Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought.”
“Don’t be satisfied with stories. How things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.”
“Whether one moves slowly or with speed, the one who is a seeker will be a finder.”
“The lion is most handsome when looking for food.”
“Ignore those that make you fearful and sad.”
“Your heart is the size of an ocean. Go find yourself in its hidden depths.”
“Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.”
“Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”
“I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.”
“Grace comes to forgive and then forgive again.”
“This is a subtle truth. Whatever you love you are.”
“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.”
“Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.”
“Whatever lifts the corners of your mouth, trust that.”
“The wealth within you, your essence, is your kingdom.”
“Life is a balance between holding on and letting go.”
“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absentminded. Someone sober will worry about things going badly. Let the lover be.”
“The lamps are different, but the light is the same.”
“What you seek is seeking you.”
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
“There is a force within that gives you life. Seek that.”
“The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore.”
“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”
“Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being.”
“You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.”
“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.”
“What is planted in each person’s soul will sprout.”
“Shine like the universe is yours.”
“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”
“These pains you feel are messengers. Listen to them.”
“Inside you there’s an artist you don’t know about.”
“The garden of the world has no limits, except in your mind.”
“Your heart knows the way. Run in that direction.”
“You have within you more love than you could ever understand.”
“Look at the moon in the sky, not the one in the lake.”
“Patience with small details makes perfect a large work, like the universe.”
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?”
“Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.”
“If light is in your heart, you will find your way home.”
“The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart.”
“Let silence take you to the core of life.”
“To praise the sun is to praise your own eyes.”
“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.”
“Only from the heart can you touch the sky.”
“Everything that is made beautiful and fair and lovely is made for the eye of one who sees.”
“Love is the bridge between you and everything.”
“Let silence be the art you practice.”
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.”
“Forget safety. Live where you fear to live.”
“The very center of your heart is where life begins – the most beautiful place on earth.”
“What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle.”
“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.”