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Look! This is love
Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273), one of the world's most beloved poets, poured out thousands of verses expressing a wonderful, high-soaring love for God. Rendered in rhythmic language, the poems collected in this book echo the enraptured dances created by Rumi and made famous by the whirling dervishes.
- GenresPoetry
108 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi
1,169 books15.8k followersSufism inspired writings of Persian poet and mystic Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi; these writings express the longing of the soul for union with the divine.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī - also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master") and more popularly simply as Rumi - was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic who lived in Konya, a city of Ottoman Empire (Today's Turkey). His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages, and he has been described as the most popular poet and the best-selling poet in the United States.
His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali.
Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by his father, Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm, his father decided to migrate westwards, eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya, where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature, and profoundly affected the culture of the area.
When his father died, Rumi, aged 25, inherited his position as the head of an Islamic school. One of Baha' ud-Din's students, Sayyed Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, continued to train Rumi in the Shariah as well as the Tariqa, especially that of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practised Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Rumi's public life then began: he became an Islamic Jurist, issuing fatwas and giving sermons in the mosques of Konya. He also served as a Molvi (Islamic teacher) and taught his adherents in the madrassa. During this period, Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.
It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on 15 November 1244 that completely changed his life. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, Rumi was transformed into an ascetic.
On the night of 5 December 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. Rumi's love for, and his bereavement at the death of, Shams found their expression in an outpouring of lyric poems, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.
Rumi found another companion in Salaḥ ud-Din-e Zarkub, a goldsmith. After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favourite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next 12 years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.
In December 1273, Rumi fell ill and died on the 17th of December in Konya.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī - also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master") and more popularly simply as Rumi - was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic who lived in Konya, a city of Ottoman Empire (Today's Turkey). His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages, and he has been described as the most popular poet and the best-selling poet in the United States.
His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali.
Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by his father, Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm, his father decided to migrate westwards, eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya, where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature, and profoundly affected the culture of the area.
When his father died, Rumi, aged 25, inherited his position as the head of an Islamic school. One of Baha' ud-Din's students, Sayyed Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, continued to train Rumi in the Shariah as well as the Tariqa, especially that of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practised Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Rumi's public life then began: he became an Islamic Jurist, issuing fatwas and giving sermons in the mosques of Konya. He also served as a Molvi (Islamic teacher) and taught his adherents in the madrassa. During this period, Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.
It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on 15 November 1244 that completely changed his life. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, Rumi was transformed into an ascetic.
On the night of 5 December 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. Rumi's love for, and his bereavement at the death of, Shams found their expression in an outpouring of lyric poems, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.
Rumi found another companion in Salaḥ ud-Din-e Zarkub, a goldsmith. After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favourite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next 12 years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.
In December 1273, Rumi fell ill and died on the 17th of December in Konya.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 31, 2021
3.5/5
"Look, you are the rose, I'm the thorn!
Don't go to your home without me!"
"Under the shade of your tresses,
how softly slept my heart,
Intoxicated and lovely, so peaceful and so free. . . ."
"Don't say "Farewell!" when I'm put in the grave A curtain is it for eternal bliss. You saw "descending"—now look at the
rising! Is setting dangerous for sun and moon?"
-
I feel like with a better structuring of the positions of the poems, I would have loved this! Still a beautiful read.
"Look, you are the rose, I'm the thorn!
Don't go to your home without me!"
"Under the shade of your tresses,
how softly slept my heart,
Intoxicated and lovely, so peaceful and so free. . . ."
"Don't say "Farewell!" when I'm put in the grave A curtain is it for eternal bliss. You saw "descending"—now look at the
rising! Is setting dangerous for sun and moon?"
-
I feel like with a better structuring of the positions of the poems, I would have loved this! Still a beautiful read.
November 4, 2024
Beautiful illustrations, maybe I got a taste of some of the essence of some of Rumi’s poems, but ultimately made me just wish I could experience reading them in Farsi
December 22, 2020
It's okay. Some poems are good, some are not.
paraphrased from beginning of book:
Jalaluddin Rumi ("Maulana" - "our master"), (1207-1273), was born in Afghanistan and lived most of his life in the Konya region of Anatolia (modern day Turkey) wrote poems about God and about Shamsuddin ("the Sun of Religion") of Tabriz, his friend who was beautiful and dangerous like the sun.
---
These are the poems/parts I liked:
---
Through Love all that is bitter will be sweet.
Through Love all that is copper will be gold.
Through Love all dregs will turn to purest wine.
Through Love all pain will turn to medicine.
Through Love the dead will all become alive.
Through Love the king will turn into a slave!
(p. 17)
---
From myself I am copper,
through You, friend, I am gold.
From myself I'm a stone, but
through You I am a gem!
(p. 18)
---
Once a beloved asked her lover: "Friend,
You have seen many places in the world!
Now - which of all these cities was the best?"
He said: "The city where my sweetheart
lives!"
(p. 19)
---
I see only your beauty,
when I open my eyes,
I drink only your wine, dear,
when I open my lips.
To talk with the people,
that seems sinful to me -
When I talk about you, dear
- long, so long, is my tale!
I am lame when they drag me
on all ways and all roads;
On the way to your dwelling,
there I race full of joy!
And my light is much greater
than moonlight and sun
When I turn once my face
to the King full of grace!
(p. 22)
---
I've chosen you, of all the world, alone!
Can You allow then that I sit and grieve?
My heart is in Your fingers like a pen:
You cause my sadness and You cause my joy.
What could I choose but what You have chosen?
What do I see but that what You are not showing?
Now You make grow from me a thorn,
now roses -
Now I smell roses, now I feel a thorn.
When You keep me like that, that's how I am, friend!
When You want me like this - again, this is it.
(p. 23)
---
I've seen no joy without You in both
worlds,
I've seen there wonders - nothing was like
You.
I've put the soul's ear at the window
"Heart" -
I've heard some words but never seen the
lips!
You've lavished grace abundant on Your
slave -
I've seen no reason but Your endless grace.
Cupbearer, dearer than my eyes, I have
Not seen one like You in Iran, Iraq!
Pour out such wine that I may leave
myself -
I've only seen fatigue in my existence.
(p. 27)
---
Come, sit beside me! Tightly cling to me!
Give up your coquetry, your pride, your
airs!
Come closer, O you mine of mercy, come!
So that your golden face turns colorful!
Do you permit? Although I do not speak
With blandishments and with false
promises:
You are too pure for that, but lovers have
The tendency to speak confused words!
(p. 34)
---
O sky, don't revolve without me!
O moon, do not shine without me!
O earth, do not go without me!
O Time, do not go without me!
This world is enchanted by you,
that world is enchanted by you -
Don't stay without me in this world!
Don't go to that world without me!
Your face, yonder radiant moon
makes lucid and lights our night -
I'm only the night, you're the moon ...
Don't go to the spheres without me!
The rose, she is kind to the thorn
and she protects him from fire -
Look, you are the rose, I'm the thorn!
Don't go to your home without me!
(p. 35)
---
I asked: "Dear Intellect, where are you?"
And Intellect replied:
"Since I've turned into wine, why should I
become a sour grape?"
(p. 36)
---
Look, I tried ev'rything, but nothing
was lovelier than you,
And when I dived into the ocean,
there was no pearl like you!
I opened a thousand vats and barrels
and tasted all of them,
But never was intoxicated
by any wine but you.
( ^ *I like this beginning part the best as I think it is a great way to declare your love for someone but the rest of the poem is a bit disappointing*)
How strange! There smile jasmine and roses
with fragrance in my heart,
But never came close to my bosom
the jasmine-breasted friend.
The pigeon "Heart" flies from my body
up to your roof, my Soul,
And I complain like nightingales ... for
my pigeon stays with you!
(p. 42)
---
And this story is interesting:
(p. 10) "Seventeen years later, shortly before his death, Rumi expressed the mystery of love once more in his description of the loving woman Zulaykha, whose every thought was directed to the One, manifested in the beautiful Yusuf: ..."
Explained in the notes (p. 106-107): "The story of Yusuf and Zulaykha is found in the Koran, Sura 12; it is also well known in the story of Joseph as told in Genesis 37-40. the beautiful young man was cast into a well by his jealous brothers, rescued, and sold as a slave in Egypt, where Potiphar's wife - called Zulaykha in the Islamic tradition - fell in love with him and tried to seduce him. When this love made her the object of scorn and blame, Zulaykha invited her friends to her house and served them oranges. While the ladies were peeling the oranges with knives, Yusuf appeared, and, gazing at his beauty, they cut off their hands instead: One does not feel pain when beholding the beauty of the friend. (This episode is referred to in the poem on p. 43.) Yusuf was imprisoned but eventually rose to the office of the highest administrator in Egypt.
paraphrased from beginning of book:
Jalaluddin Rumi ("Maulana" - "our master"), (1207-1273), was born in Afghanistan and lived most of his life in the Konya region of Anatolia (modern day Turkey) wrote poems about God and about Shamsuddin ("the Sun of Religion") of Tabriz, his friend who was beautiful and dangerous like the sun.
---
These are the poems/parts I liked:
---
Through Love all that is bitter will be sweet.
Through Love all that is copper will be gold.
Through Love all dregs will turn to purest wine.
Through Love all pain will turn to medicine.
Through Love the dead will all become alive.
Through Love the king will turn into a slave!
(p. 17)
---
From myself I am copper,
through You, friend, I am gold.
From myself I'm a stone, but
through You I am a gem!
(p. 18)
---
Once a beloved asked her lover: "Friend,
You have seen many places in the world!
Now - which of all these cities was the best?"
He said: "The city where my sweetheart
lives!"
(p. 19)
---
I see only your beauty,
when I open my eyes,
I drink only your wine, dear,
when I open my lips.
To talk with the people,
that seems sinful to me -
When I talk about you, dear
- long, so long, is my tale!
I am lame when they drag me
on all ways and all roads;
On the way to your dwelling,
there I race full of joy!
And my light is much greater
than moonlight and sun
When I turn once my face
to the King full of grace!
(p. 22)
---
I've chosen you, of all the world, alone!
Can You allow then that I sit and grieve?
My heart is in Your fingers like a pen:
You cause my sadness and You cause my joy.
What could I choose but what You have chosen?
What do I see but that what You are not showing?
Now You make grow from me a thorn,
now roses -
Now I smell roses, now I feel a thorn.
When You keep me like that, that's how I am, friend!
When You want me like this - again, this is it.
(p. 23)
---
I've seen no joy without You in both
worlds,
I've seen there wonders - nothing was like
You.
I've put the soul's ear at the window
"Heart" -
I've heard some words but never seen the
lips!
You've lavished grace abundant on Your
slave -
I've seen no reason but Your endless grace.
Cupbearer, dearer than my eyes, I have
Not seen one like You in Iran, Iraq!
Pour out such wine that I may leave
myself -
I've only seen fatigue in my existence.
(p. 27)
---
Come, sit beside me! Tightly cling to me!
Give up your coquetry, your pride, your
airs!
Come closer, O you mine of mercy, come!
So that your golden face turns colorful!
Do you permit? Although I do not speak
With blandishments and with false
promises:
You are too pure for that, but lovers have
The tendency to speak confused words!
(p. 34)
---
O sky, don't revolve without me!
O moon, do not shine without me!
O earth, do not go without me!
O Time, do not go without me!
This world is enchanted by you,
that world is enchanted by you -
Don't stay without me in this world!
Don't go to that world without me!
Your face, yonder radiant moon
makes lucid and lights our night -
I'm only the night, you're the moon ...
Don't go to the spheres without me!
The rose, she is kind to the thorn
and she protects him from fire -
Look, you are the rose, I'm the thorn!
Don't go to your home without me!
(p. 35)
---
I asked: "Dear Intellect, where are you?"
And Intellect replied:
"Since I've turned into wine, why should I
become a sour grape?"
(p. 36)
---
Look, I tried ev'rything, but nothing
was lovelier than you,
And when I dived into the ocean,
there was no pearl like you!
I opened a thousand vats and barrels
and tasted all of them,
But never was intoxicated
by any wine but you.
( ^ *I like this beginning part the best as I think it is a great way to declare your love for someone but the rest of the poem is a bit disappointing*)
How strange! There smile jasmine and roses
with fragrance in my heart,
But never came close to my bosom
the jasmine-breasted friend.
The pigeon "Heart" flies from my body
up to your roof, my Soul,
And I complain like nightingales ... for
my pigeon stays with you!
(p. 42)
---
And this story is interesting:
(p. 10) "Seventeen years later, shortly before his death, Rumi expressed the mystery of love once more in his description of the loving woman Zulaykha, whose every thought was directed to the One, manifested in the beautiful Yusuf: ..."
Explained in the notes (p. 106-107): "The story of Yusuf and Zulaykha is found in the Koran, Sura 12; it is also well known in the story of Joseph as told in Genesis 37-40. the beautiful young man was cast into a well by his jealous brothers, rescued, and sold as a slave in Egypt, where Potiphar's wife - called Zulaykha in the Islamic tradition - fell in love with him and tried to seduce him. When this love made her the object of scorn and blame, Zulaykha invited her friends to her house and served them oranges. While the ladies were peeling the oranges with knives, Yusuf appeared, and, gazing at his beauty, they cut off their hands instead: One does not feel pain when beholding the beauty of the friend. (This episode is referred to in the poem on p. 43.) Yusuf was imprisoned but eventually rose to the office of the highest administrator in Egypt.
July 23, 2019
this book is a translated poetry collection by Annemarie Schimmel & has such awesome illustrations. Some of the illustrations have Persian phrases on them which made me wish I had known Persian.
The poems are lyrical & mystical revolving around one & only 'Shams of Tabriz'. The poems in this book do not follow an order but they emphasize on love & friendship, devotion & longing and Hope & despair. Even though, Rumi found other mentors too, Shamsuddin was always his source of inspiration, which is evident by the number of poems signaling toward it, referring to him as a sun!
The poems are lyrical & mystical revolving around one & only 'Shams of Tabriz'. The poems in this book do not follow an order but they emphasize on love & friendship, devotion & longing and Hope & despair. Even though, Rumi found other mentors too, Shamsuddin was always his source of inspiration, which is evident by the number of poems signaling toward it, referring to him as a sun!
August 31, 2025
Ngl, went into this thinking it was about romantic love so was confused 😂 there were a couple poems that stood out to me but I did find some of it still confusing, not sure if I just don’t vibe with the translation? But did find the beauty and some parts hit me hard.
July 12, 2016
I read this book because I'm researching about the meaning of love for Rumi and it has certainly helped me, Rumi's writing style is as expected, mystifying yet at the same time very beautiful. There is an abundance of love in his works, love for one's soul, for the divine, romantic love, love for a friend and it has been a great help for my essay so I hit 2 birds with 1 stone so to speak :D
November 22, 2017
This is a compilation of Rumi's poems,
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews