As Ripeness Comes | Rumi Poem

This poem by Rumi is about how what we long for begins to appear when we become still enough to receive it. It hints that both the longing and its answer come from within, and that something deeper can quietly make itself known in the present moment.

Mawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi, popularly known as "Rumi", is a 13th-century Sufi poet. Today, he is recognised as one of the greatest poets who ever lived, due in part to how his words seem to speak to the Divine.

Photo by Mark Studzi.
Translation by Coleman Barks.

Transcript

What soul's desire arrives? We are standing up to our necks in the sacred pool. Majesty is here. The grains of the earth take in something they do not understand. Where did this come from? It comes from where your longing comes. From which direction? As ripeness comes to fruit. This answer lights a candle in the chest of anyone who hears. Most people only look for the way when they hurt. Pain is a fine path to the unknowable. But today is different. Today the quality we call splendor puts on human clothes, Walks through the door, Closes it behind, And sits down with us in this companionship.