Poemattic: Poetry and Art for the Soul

More simply known as Rumi, his poetry was mostly written in Persian but popularized in many languages including English. I recently read The Love Poems of Rumi published in the United States in 2015. This collection was translated by world-renowned Iranian-American architect Nader Khalili, who was also an author and humanitarian and teacher.

Before then I had come across some of his poems and quotes which impressed me greatly. The love poems connect expressions of deep emotion to the very soul of the poet. Rumi’s full name is Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī  which is a mouth full but I was intrigued why Rumi is most popular. Rumi’s birthday is commemorated on September 30.

Here is one of his poems from the collection:

Come Let’s Speak

Come let’s speak

of our souls

let’s even hide from

our ears and eyes

like a rose garden

always keep a smile

like imagination

talk without a sound

like the spirit

reigning the world

telling the secrets

uttering no word

let’s get away from

all the clever humans

who put words in our mouth

let’s only say what our hearts desire

even our hands and feet

sense every inner move

let’s keep silence

but make our hearts move

the mystery of destiny

know the life of

speck after speck of dust

let’s tell our story

as particle of dust