Love's Confusing Joy | Rumi Poem

In this poem by Rumi, we are invited to see beyond the surface of reality. It contrasts the safety of familiar life with the vast unknown. Both pursuits can feel uncertain, but the real call is something deeper; a subtle, transformative force that moves us, even when it doesn’t make logical sense, bringing us closer to a truer, fuller sense of being.

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.

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Translation by Coleman Barks.

Transcript

If you want what visible reality can give. You are an employee. If you want the unseen world. You are not living your truth. Both wishes are foolish. But you will be forgiven. For forgetting that what you really want. Is love's confusing joy. You