What's Inside You

Rumi was a Persian Sufi master who lived 1207-1273. I had heard snippets of his poetry and some quotes in the past. But at the Circle of Love I was truly introduced to Rumi by a Sufi Shaikh, Kadir Helminski.

I purchased a little book called, 'The Pocket Rumi'. And as I began to read through it I was struck, beautifully so, by the wisdom contained within. I suspect that posts and poems in the future will be inspired by Rumi (and will be introducing a new tag to allow readers to focus just on my poetry inspired by Rumi).

In the first section of the book, called Rubaiyat, I was struck by a verse numbered 491.

Whoever sees You and doesn't smile,
whose jaw doesn't drop with awe,
whose qualities fail to increase in a thousand ways,
can only be the mortar and bricks of a prison.


And then a poem was revealed.

What's Inside You

Think about the people,
you did not smile at today.
Did you fail to feel their Source,
did you cease to love their ways?

Were their warts your perception?
Did a 'feeling' not speak of God?
Was pretention hidden from you?
Was the best you could do a nod?

Then look to the bricks and mortar,
of who you must surely be,
and ponder, my beloved, for a moment,
what's inside you that you see.

(c) Copyright 2009, Carmien Owen (Rumi verse copyright of Rumi)