Mevlana Jaluddin Rumi

The Benefits of Optimism

Mevlana Jaluddin Rumi, the great mystic poet, lived in a dreamy, happy state of mind. Judging by the voluminous collection of Rumi’s works we have, we can tell that he had lots of time to meditate and think daily. I was even told that to have written so many poems, he must have written ten or twelve works a DAY, for several years. As you will read more of his poems, you might find a recurrent theme: optimism. A great many of these works of his have this theme. One which echoes my thesis is the following quatrain.

“Do not sit long with a sad friend.
When you go into a garden,
do you look at thorns or flowers?
Spend more time with roses and jasmine.”

When Rumi warns us against spending time with a sad friend, he uses a sad friend as a personification of that feeling or attitude which is oppressive. Instead, he believes we should look for the silver lining in every dark cloud. When he talks of ‘going into a garden,’ he means life. When we go through everyday rituals, we can choose our perspective. We can see the roses in life– the happy events that make us feel good, the beautiful sights for sore eyes–and we can turn our eyes from the thorns and dying plants. ‘Spend more time’ implies that indeed the thorns are necessary,and we must have downs to life. If he had said ‘spend ALL your time,’ we would live in a state of oblivious joy. To close, I say that Rumi’s quatrain is a revelation of truth even in its brevity. Everything is defined by its opposite; he restates this idea in another of his quatrains, “Greed and Generosity.”

“Take this town with its stores
and everyone rushing around,
some with a lot of money, some without any.”

The town would undoubtedly cease to exist if all of its inhabitants were rich or everyone were poor. We would have no appreciation for the ‘ups’ in life if there were no downs.’ Rumi suggests that although the downs will always be important, we shouldn’t focus on them.

Mevlana Jalauddin Rumi
Dervishhood
The Mevlevi Order
Night of the Whirling Dervishes

Related Articles

Turkish Kece Making Workshop

Turkish Kece Making Workshop in Sultanahmet

Traditional Turkish Felt – Kece Making ClassOur guests from Canada – April 2016 / Sultanahmet – ISTANBUL Traditional Turkish Wool Art in Istanbul Felt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt […]
Read more
Travelling to Istanbul

50 Things to Do When Travelling to Istanbul

Articley By : Blogger Audreyhttp://thatbackpacker.com/2013/12/09/50-things-to-do-in-istanbul-turkey/ (1) Visit the Spice Bazaar. This is the second largest covered market after the Grand Bazaar. Here you’ll be able to pick up spices, nuts, dried fruit, Turkish coffee, loose leaf tea, and even Turkish delight! (2) Go to a whirling dervish show. Turkey is home to the Mevlevi Order […]
Read more
Henna For Erasmus Students in Istanbul

Henna For Erasmus Students in Istanbul

Henna Art for our guests from Ireland Erasmus Students – Istanbul / January 2016 Traditional Turkish Henna Night The ceremony held one day before the wedding in the home of bride and groom is called the henna night. It generally takes place at the girl’s home and among women, although either side can elect to […]
Read more

Shopping Cart Items

Empty cart

No products in the cart.

Return to Shop
Search for:
X