Jesus is here

“‘Jesus is here, and he wants
to resurrect somebody!’”

—Rumi, from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 1995.

Judge a moth by the beauty of its candle

“The only way to measure a lover
is by the grandeur of the beloved.

Judge a moth by the beauty of its candle.”

—Rumi, Judge a Moth by the Beauty of Its Candle, from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 1995.

We are the night ocean

“We are the night ocean filled
with glints of light. We are the space
between the fish and the moon,
while we sit here together.”

—Rumi, The Private Banquet, from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 1995.

only talking

“There’s the light gold of wheat in the sun
and the gold of bread made from that wheat.
I have neither. I’m only talking about them,

as a town in the desert looks up
at stars on a clear night.”

—Rumi, Unmarked Boxes, from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 1995.

the spirit tree

“Make peace with the universe. Take joy in it.

It will turn to gold. Resurrection
will be now. Every moment,
a new beauty.

And never any boredom! . . .

Sleep in the spirit tree’s peaceful shade,
and never stick your head out from that green.”

—Rumi, Green Ears, from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 1995.

gifts for Solomon

“Queen Sheba loads forty mules with gold bricks
as gifts for Solomon. When her envoy and his party
reach the wide plain leading to Solomon’s palace,
they see that the top layer of the entire plain
is pure gold. They travel on gold
for forty days!

What foolishness to take gold
to Solomon, when the dirt of his land
is gold.”

—Rumi, Sheba’s Gifts To Solomon, from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 1995.

Their eyes were closed

“So these two were lost in their sexual trance.
They did not care anymore about feasting
or wine. Their eyes were closed like
perfectly matching calligraphy lines.”

—Rumi, Breadmaking, from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 1995.

a mine of rubies

“I am a naked man standing inside a mine of rubies,
clothed in red silk.
I absorb the shining and now I see the ocean,
billions of simultaneous motions
moving in me.
A circle of lovely, quiet people
becomes the ring on my finger.”

—Rumi, I Have Such A Teacher, from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 1995.

a ruby held up to the sunrise

“He says, ‘There’s nothing left of me.
I’m like a ruby held up to the sunrise.
Is it still a stone, or a world
made of redness—It has no resistance
to sunlight.’

This is how Hallaj said, I am God,
and told the truth!

The ruby and the sunrise are one.”

—Rumi, The Sunrise Ruby, from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 1995.

the ruby has nothing engraved on it!

“The love-religion has no code or doctrine.
Only God.
So the ruby has nothing engraved on it!
It doesn’t need markings.”

—Rumi, Moses And The Shepherd, from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 1995.