Rumi Quotes
Jalal ad-Din Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet, theologian, and Sufi mystic whose words have transcended centuries, languages, and cultures.
76 quotes in this collection
Best Rumi Quotes
"The wound is the place where the Light enters 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."
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there."
"Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion."
"What you seek is seeking you."
"Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation."
"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do."
"You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?"
"Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form."
"Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment."
"The garden of the world has no limits, except in your mind."
"Reason is powerless in the expression of Love."
"Only from the heart can you touch the sky."
"When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy."
"Ignore those that make you fearful and sad, that degrade you back towards disease and death."
"The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are."
"Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames."
"You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens."
"Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being."
"A life without love is a waste. Should I look for spiritual love, or material, or physical love? Don't ask yourself this question. Discrimination leads to discrimination. Love doesn't need any definitions."
"This human being is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival â a joy, a depression, a meanness â comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all."
"Whatever happens, just keep smiling and lose yourself in love."
"Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?"
"Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love."
"Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond."
"There is a voice that doesn't use words. Listen."
"Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free."
"I have lived on the lip of insanity, wanting to know reasons, knocking on a door. It opens. I've been knocking from the inside."
"Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion or cultural system. I am not from the East or the West."
"The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone."
"My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there."
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone's soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd."
"Two there are who are never satisfied â the lover of the world and the lover of knowledge."
"What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle."
"Come, seek, for search is the foundation of fortune. Every success depends upon focusing the heart."
"Either give me more wine or leave me alone."
"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep."
"You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop."
"Speak a new language so that the world will be a new world."
"Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along."
"When someone beats a rug, the blows are not against the rug, but against the dust in it."
"I am not this hair, I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within."
"Travel brings power and love back into your life."
"Close your eyes, fall in love, stay there."
"Knock, and He'll open the door. Vanish, and He'll make you shine like the sun."
"Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life's search for love and wisdom."
"The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore."
"Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious."
"Be full of sorrow, that you may become full of joy; weep, that you may break into laughter."
"Love rests on no foundation. It is an endless ocean, with no beginning or end."
"When you lose all sense of self, the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish."
"The inspiration you seek is already within you. Be silent and listen."
"You are a divine branch of God. If the spiritual eyes open, the universe can be seen in your own heart."
"The world is a mountain, in which your words are echoed back to you."
"Even the greatest was once a beginner. Don't be afraid to take that first step."
"Love is the energizing elixir of the universe, the cause and effect of all harmonies."
"Half-heartedness doesn't reach into majesty. You set out to find God, but then you keep stopping for long periods at mean-spirited roadhouses."
"When you see the face of anger, look behind it and you will see the face of pride. Bring anger and pride together and you will see the face of the Devil."
"A wound is a place where the light enters. Keep yours open."
"Do not look back, no one knows how the world ever began. Do not fear the future, nothing lasts forever."
"Your heart is the size of an ocean. Go find yourself in its hidden depths."
"The lion is most handsome when looking for food."
"Stay with me, or I'll shrink to a handful of dried leaves."
"When you go through a hard period, when everything seems to oppose you, when you feel you cannot even bear one more minute, never give up. Because it is the time and place that the course will divert."
"Love is the water of life. Jump into this water."
"You are the universe experiencing itself."
"The soul has been given its own ears to hear things the mind does not understand."
"Hear the voice of Love. It never stops calling."
"Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself."
"With every breath, I plant the seeds of devotion. I am a farmer of the heart."
"One thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve."
"Either you're in, or you're out. Love, like water, finds its own level."
"From the beginning of my life I have been looking for your face, but today I have seen it."
"The cure for pain is in the pain."
"I know you're tired but come, this is the way."
"Shine like the whole universe is yours."
Authors in Rumi Quotes
Related Topics & Collections
His poetry speaks to the deepest longings of the human soul â love, longing, transformation, and the search for meaning. These curated quotes from Rumi are gathered here as quiet companions for moments of reflection, uncertainty, and wonder.
Rumi was born in 1207 in Balkh, in present-day Afghanistan, and spent much of his life in Konya, in modern-day Turkey. A theologian, jurist, and Islamic scholar, he became one of the most celebrated Sufi mystics in history after his transformative friendship with the wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz. The grief of losing Shams became the wellspring of his greatest poetry.
His masterwork, the Masnavi â a six-volume poem of over 25,000 verses â is often called the Persian Quran. His shorter lyric poems, collected in the Divan-e Shams, express longing, ecstasy, and surrender to the divine with a directness that still resonates today. Rumi's words remind us that love is not a feeling to be chased but a state of being to return to.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Rumi?
Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet, Islamic scholar, and Sufi mystic born in 1207. His poetry on love, spirituality, and the soul has made him one of the best-selling poets in the world across all centuries.
What is Rumi's most famous quote?
"The wound is the place where the Light enters you" is widely considered his most iconic line, offering comfort in suffering and a reframe of pain as a path to illumination.
What themes run through Rumi's quotes?
Love, longing, the soul's journey, silence, transformation, surrender, and the search for the divine are the recurring threads woven through Rumi's poetry and teachings.
