“Love is the water of life. And a lover is a soul of fire! The universe turns differently when fire loves water.”
A life without love is of no account.
Don’t ask yourself what kind of love you should seek,
spiritual or material,
divine or mundane,
Eastern or Western.
Divisions only lead to more divisions.
Love has no labels, no definitions.
It is what it is, pure and simple.
Love is the water of life.
And a lover is a soul of fire!
The universe turns differently when fire loves water.
~ Shams-e-Tabriz (Shams of Tabriz or just Shams)
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Shams was instrumental in profoundly transforming Rumi’s life … here’s a sampling:
Rumi’s story of “becoming Rumi” is a fascinating one … from being recognized, in his youth, as a “great spirit” by Attar … to him being sought out by the great wandering mystic Shams-e-Tabriz (or Shams) who was willing to give his head in exchange for “finding a friend” who could “endure” “his (Shams) presence”…
…
Shams was a man totally “annihilated in God” … and the “friend” who could “endure” “his presence” turned out to be Rumi … even though Rumi did not know Shams or anything about him.
…
Rumi’s encounter with Shams shattered his “world” … resulting in a profound transformation … the results of which we are all relishing 700+ years later !
…
Before meeting Shams, Rumi’s life “… was of a respected scholar and spiritual leader of his community … but … in Shams he “met” That which he had been reading and studying about …”
Above excerpts (in block quotes) are from our post: Rumi’s Life Story : Genesis of His Poetry (Part 1). Please visit that page for more on Shams … plus Rumi’s Life Story series is ongoing … so stay tuned and … please come back for a visit 🙂 …
This post is based on our post on facebook.
Quote: Rule Number Forty, from The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi, by Elif Shafak, or Self-Love: The Authentic Path to Conscious Leadership by Nerisha Maharaj.
Image: Fire Angel, by peasap, CC BY 2.0.
