This beautiful poem is taken from ‘A year with Rumi’.
If we are not together in the heart,
What’s the point?
When body and soul are not dancing,
there is no pleasure in colourful clothing.
Why have cooking pans
if there is no food in the house?
In this world full of fresh bread,
amber, and musk, what are they
to someone with no sense of smell?
If you stay away from fire,
you will remain sour,
doughy, raw and numb.
You may have lovely just-baked loaves
around you, but those friends cannot help..
You have to feel the oven fire yourself.
Rumi
“The poetry feels like it belongs to all. When Rumi died in 1273, members of all religions came to the funeral. Wherever you stand, his words deepen your connection to the mystery of being alive.” Excerpt from the introduction by Coleman Barks.
