Poetry Quote by Jalaluddin Rumi
““For the grace of the presence, be grateful. Touch the cloth of the robe, but do not pull it toward you, or like an arrow it will leave the bow. Images. Presence plays with form, fleeing and hiding as the sky does in water, now one place, now nowhere. Imagination cannot contain the absolute. These poems are elusive because the presence is. I love the rose that is not a rose, but the second I try to speak it, any name for God becomes so-and-so, and vanishes. What you thought to draw lifts off the paper, as what you love slips from your heart.””
About This Quote
Source Poetry: The Essential Rumi, translated 1995
Presence is fleeting; imagination cannot capture the absolute, and divine mystery eludes naming.
In simple terms: Divine mystery is beyond words.
Sit with the unknown.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- meditation
- art creation
- philosophical discussion
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you experience the divine without words?
- What does “the rose that is not a rose” mean to you?
May feel abstract.