{"id":8682,"date":"2026-02-27T10:03:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T17:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8682"},"modified":"2026-02-27T10:03:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T17:03:42","slug":"rumi-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/27\/rumi-with-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Rumi – With Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Us
\nby Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by Nevit Ergin with Camille Helminski<\/font><\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re not a seeker,
\nstill, follow us, keep searching with us.
\nEven if you don\u2019t know how
\nto play and sing,
\nyou\u2019ll become like us;
\nwith us you\u2019ll start singing and dancing.<\/p>\n

Even if you are Qarun, the richest of kings,
\nwhen you fall in love,
\nyou\u2019ll become a beggar.
\nThough you are a sultan, like us you\u2019ll become a slave.<\/p>\n

One candle of this gathering
\nis worth a hundred candles; its light is as great.
\nEither you are alive or dead.
\nYou\u2019ll come back to life with us.<\/p>\n

Unbind your feet.
\nShow the rose garden \u2014
\nstart laughing with your whole body,
\nlike a rose, like us.<\/p>\n

Put on the mantle for a moment
\nand see the ones whose hearts are alive.
\nThen, throw out your satin dresses
\nand cover yourself with a cloak, like us.<\/p>\n

When a seed falls into the ground,
\nit germinates, grows, and becomes a tree:
\nif you understand these symbols,
\nyou\u2019ll follow us, and fall to the ground, with us.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s Shams of Tabriz says
\nto the heart\u2019s bud,
\n\u201cIf your eyes are opened,
\nyou\u2019ll see the things worth seeing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Rumi Collection (Shambhala Library)<\/a>, by Kabir Helminski \/ Nevit Ergin<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Fahaz Ahanin<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

It has been too long since we last enjoyed a poem by Rumi together. To call his material \u201cpoems\u201d sometimes sounds overly formal to my ears. Rumi didn\u2019t sit at a table with a pen and inkpot composing poetry. According to tradition, he would walk round and round a column or tent pole \u2014 and the words just poured out of him. These are utterances, revelations, The words of Rumi should sing in the heart and speak directly to the soul.<\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re not a seeker,
\nstill, follow us, keep searching with us.<\/i><\/p>\n

What I like about this opening phrase is how it immediately short circuits spiritual inertia, not by exhorting us to renewed effort, but simply by participation \u2014 and by ignoring our self labels. We don\u2019t have to be a \u201cseeker,\u201d we just have to seek.<\/p>\n

The seeking itself is really a celebration:<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t know how
\nto play and sing,
\nyou\u2019ll become like us;
\nwith us you\u2019ll start singing and dancing.<\/i><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a popup rave, and you only know it exists once you show up and start dancing!<\/p>\n

when you fall in love,
\nyou\u2019ll become a beggar.<\/i><\/p>\n

We spend so much of our lives in pretense, in constructing a presentation of who we are that we show to the world. But when we encounter real love, all of that falls away, and we gladly follow love\u2019s caravan, living happily on whatever gets tossed our way.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll come back to life with us.<\/i><\/p>\n

New life is found this way. An amazing thing! We thought we were alive, but were not. When that false self \u201cdies,\u201d that\u2019s when we truly understand what life is.<\/p>\n

Unbind your feet.<\/i><\/p>\n

Rumi tells us twice to unbind our feet. Why do we want to unbind our feet? What is important about going barefoot? The feet can be awkward, embarassing, vulnerable, to some even shameful. To unbind them is to reveal them, to be naked, to be honest \u2014 and to be present on the living earth.<\/p>\n

Show the rose garden \u2014
\nstart laughing with your whole body,
\nlike a rose, like us.<\/i><\/p>\n

The rose is an important symbol that keeps coming up in Sufi poetry. I think of it as representing the awakened heart, the way it buds and blossoms circling in toward an infinitely layered center, offering its wine-like perfume to the world. So when we laugh with our whole body \u201clike a rose\u201d we experience the full-bodied, full-reality delight that is only possible through the awakened heart. All of the imperfections, all of the terrors of the world, and all of the beauties and simple joys too are all somehow reconciled in the heart, the rose. That\u2019s when we start laughing with our whole body.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your eyes are opened,
\nyou\u2019ll see the things worth seeing.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology)<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThis Dance of Bliss: Ecstatic Poetry from Around the World<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nPoetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nMusic of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish & Hebrew Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nPerfume of the Desert: Inspirations from Sufi Wisdom<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"Mevlana<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nMevlana Jelaluddin Rumi<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Afghanistan & Turkey (1207 \u2013 1273) Timeline<\/a>
\nMuslim \/ Sufi<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Rumi was a war refugee and an asylum seeker. He was born in Balkh, in what is today Afghanistan. While he was still a child his family moved all the way to Konya in Asia Minor (Turkey). They moved to flee from Mongol invaders who were beginning to sweep into Central Asia. Konya, far to the west of the invaded territories, became one of the major destinations for expatriates to settle, turning the city into a cosmopolitan center of culture, education, and spirituality. (These lands were part of the Persian Empire, so, while he lived most of his life in what is today called Turkey, culturally he was Persian.) <\/p>\n

In fact, Rumi wasn\u2019t the only famous Sufi teacher living in Konya at the time. The best known spiritual figure in Konya at the time was not Rumi, but the son-in-law of the greatly respected Sufi philosopher ibn \u2018Arabi. The wonderful Sufi poet Fakhruddin Iraqi also lived in Konya at the same time as Rumi.<\/p>\n

\u201cRumi\u201d was not his proper name; it was more of a nickname. Rumi means literally \u201cThe Roman.\u201d Why the Roman? Asia Minor (Turkey) was referred to as the land of the Rum, the Romans. The Byzantine Empire, which had only recently been pushed back to a small area of control around Constantinople, was still thought of as the old Eastern Roman Empire. Rumi was nicknamed the Roman because he lived in what was once the Eastern Roman Empire. \u2026But not everyone calls him Rumi. In Afghanistan, where he was born, they call him Balkhi, \u201cthe man from Balkh,\u201d to emphasize his birth in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Rumi\u2019s father was himself a respected religious authority and spiritual teacher. Rumi was raised and educated to follow in his father\u2019s footsteps. And, in fact, Rumi inherited his father\u2019s religious school. But this was all along very traditional lines. Rumi was already a man with religious position when he first started to experience transcendent states of spiritual ecstasy. This created a radical upheaval, not only in himself, but also within his rather formal spiritual community as everyone tried to adjust to their leader\u2019s transformation.<\/p>\n

One more note about Rumi\u2019s father: It was only after his death that some of the father\u2019s private writings were discovered, revealing that he himself was also a profound mystic, though he had kept this part of himself private, apparently even from his son Rumi.<\/p>\n

Many of Rumi\u2019s poems make reference to the sun. This always has layered meaning for Rumi since he was deeply devoted to his spiritual teacher Shams of Tabriz\u2026 as the name Shams means \u201cthe sun.\u201d The sun for Rumi becomes the radiance of God shining through his beloved teacher.<\/p>\n

The spiritual bond between Rumi and Shams was profound, but the two individuals were very different. Rumi was a member of the educated elite within the urban expatriate community, while Shams was a poor wandering mystic who rarely stayed in one place long. Shams would often disappear unexpectedly, then return months later. Many of Rumi\u2019s family and students were jealous of Shams, resenting the closeness he shared with their master. Finally, Shams disappeared, never to return. Some believe that he was actually kidnapped and murdered, possibly by Rumi\u2019s own sons! Or he may have simply followed his dervish nature and journeyed on, never to return to Konya.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve heard of \u201cwhirling dervishes,\u201d right? Not all Sufis practice that spinning meditative dance. That is specific to the Mevlana Sufis, founded by \u2014 yes, Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi. The story is told that Rumi would circle around a column, while ecstatically reciting his poetry. The spinning is a meditation on many levels. It teaches stillness and centeredness in the midst of movement. One hand is kept raised to receive from heaven, the other hand is kept lowered to the earth, thus the individual becomes a bridge joining heaven and earth.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Us by Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi English version by Nevit Ergin with Camille Helminski Even if you\u2019re not a seeker, still, follow us, keep searching with us. Even if you don\u2019t know how to play and sing, you\u2019ll become like us; with us you\u2019ll start singing and dancing. Even if you are Qarun, the richest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1077,2620,90,286,91,253,88,2621,19],"class_list":["post-8682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-dance","tag-feet","tag-jelaluddin-rumi","tag-mevlana-jelaluddin-rumi","tag-persian-poetry","tag-rose","tag-rumi","tag-sing","tag-sufi-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8683,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8682\/revisions\/8683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}