The Forbidden Rumi Quotes

“Don't go off sightseeing.
The real journey is right here.
The great excursion starts
from exactly where you are.
You are the world.
You have everything you need.
You are the secret.
You are the wide opened.

Don't look for the remedy for your troubles
outside yourself.
You are the medicine.
You are the cure for your own sorrow.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Forbidden Rumi: The Suppressed Poems of Rumi on Love, Heresy, and Intoxication

“Before I ended up in this dungeon of the world,
I was with you all the time.
How I wish I’d never fallen into
this earthly trap.

I kept telling you over and over again:
“I’m perfectly happy here.
I don’t want to go anywhere.
To travel from this exaltation down to earth
is just too difficult a journey."

You sent me anyway:
“Go, don’t be scared.
No harm will come to you.
I will always be with you."

You persuaded me by saying:

“If you go, you’ll gain new experiences.
You’ll progress on your path.
You’ll be far more mature
when you come back home."

I replied: “O Essence of Knowledge,
What good is all this learning and information
without you?
Who could leave you for knowledge,
unless he has no knowledge of you?"

When I drink wine from your hand,

I haven’t a care in the world.
I become drunk and happy.

I couldn’t care less about gain or loss,
or people’s good or bad features.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Forbidden Rumi: The Suppressed Poems of Rumi on Love, Heresy, and Intoxication

“Choose love. Choose love.
Without this beautiful love,
life is nothing but a burden.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Forbidden Rumi: The Suppressed Poems of Rumi on Love, Heresy, and Intoxication

“Sometimes you get frightened
as a camel.
Sometimes you get stuck in the mud
like a hunted prey.

O young fool,
how long will you keep running away
from yourself?
In the end,
the thing will happen anyway.

Just go in the direction
where there is no direction.
Go, search there.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Forbidden Rumi: The Suppressed Poems of Rumi on Love, Heresy, and Intoxication

“I was dead, but came back to life.
I was the cry, but I became the smile.
Love came and turned me
into everlasting glory.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Forbidden Rumi: The Suppressed Poems of Rumi on Love, Heresy, and Intoxication