Empty | Rumi Poem

Rumi devotes a lot of attention to silence and emptiness, especially at the end of poems, where he gives the words back into the silence and emptiness they came from (Khamush in Persian ). It is truly one of the mysteries that flow through him. No other poet pays such homage to silence. He was once asked, “Isn’t it strange that you talk so much about silence?” He answered, “The radiant one inside me has never said a word.”

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. Love and gratitude to Coleman Barks for his beautiful translations and dedication.

Photo by Mohammad Alizade.

Transcript

Come out here where the roses have opened,

Let soul and world meet.

The sun has drawn a fine-tempered blade of light.

We may as well surrender.

Laugh at the ugly arrogance you see.

Weep for those separated from the friend.

The city seethes with rumor.

Some madman has escaped the prison.

War is a revolution beginning.

What day is it?

Is this when all we have done and been will be publicly known?

With no thinking and no emotion,

With no ideas about the soul and no language,

These drums are saying how empty we are.