Sunday, September 30 is the 800th birthday of Rumi. For those of you who aren't familiar with Rūmī's writings, he was a 13th Century brilliant Persian mystic and poet. He was born in Balkh (present-day Afghanistan) and died in Konya (in present-day Turkey). His poetry is in Persian and translated in many languages worldwide. His followers founded the Mevlevi Order, better known as the "Whirling Dervishes. My favorite translations of Rumi poetry are by Coleman Barks, a renowned poet who taught English and Poetry at the University of Georgia for many years.
"Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don't open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument. Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi: The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing- by Coleman Barks
Happy 800th!
“Like birdsong beginning inside the egg.
Like this universe coming into existence,
The lover wakes, and whirls
in a dancing joy
then kneels down
in praise.”
Rumi
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