My religion is to live through Love… I’ve beat this drum of Love for so long, for you whom I adore, singing: “My life depends upon my dying.”

Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi

To Live Through Love

Topic: Love, Compassion, & Kindness

My religion is
to live through Love:

a life created from my own
small mind and self
would be a disgrace.

The blade of Love cuts away
what covers the lover’s soul;
Love’s sword severs sins.

When the bodily grime is gone,
a shining moon appears:
Spirit’s moon in a wide-open sky.

I’ve beat this drum of Love
for so long, for you whom I adore,
singing: “My life depends upon my dying.”

This keeps my body and soul alive.
I dream but I do not sleep.

This seagull fears no shipwreck.
Her feet love to touch the Ocean.

Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi

Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, born on September 30, 1207, and also known as Jalaluddin Mevlana (Mawlānā) Rumi, J. M. Rumi, or simply as Rumi in the Western world, was an extraordinary poet, philosopher, and Sufi mystic. He was a prominent figure in the Islamic world, born in the region of present-day Afghanistan, then within the greater Persian Empire, and later settled in Konya, present-day Turkey. Rumi's passionate love for humanity and his deep spiritual insights transcended geographical, linguistic, and cultural barriers, making his poetry and teachings resonate not only within the Islamic world but also with audiences globally.

Rumi's spiritual journey led him to develop a unique approach to Sufism that emphasized love, tolerance, and the pursuit of enlightenment. He created a fusion of traditional Islamic beliefs with mysticism, nurturing a school of thought that flourished in his followers. They established a sect known to the Western world as the 'Whirling Dervishes', a term derived from their mesmerizing practice of whirling as a form of physical meditation. The proper name for this branch is the Mevlevi order, dedicated to preserving and promoting Rumi's teachings.

In addition to being a mystic, Rumi was an accomplished scholar and theologian who left behind an impressive literary legacy. His best-known work, the Mathnawi or Masnavi, is a six-volume poetic epic that explores themes of love, divine mystery, and human connection to the spiritual world. Rumi's poetic style is marked by profound emotion and philosophical depth, weaving metaphors and allegory to create timeless pieces that continue to inspire readers today. Rumi's influence reaches far beyond his time, as his teachings on love, compassion, and unity continue to touch the hearts of millions, transcending barriers of religion, culture, and era.

(1207-1273) Islam
Mathnawi

J. M. Rumi, Mathnawi I (4059-4064), trans., Kabir Helminski & Ahmad Rezwani, in Love's Ripening: Rumi On the Heart's Journey [My Life Is through Dying] (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2008) Pp. 128-129.

Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi

Theme: Love

About This Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi Poem [Commentary]

Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi begins with the bold affirmation: “My religion is to live through Love.” For Rumi, love is not an emotion or belief—it is the path itself. A life created from the “small mind and self,” he says, “would be a disgrace.” In contrast, living through love reshapes the soul. “The blade of Love cuts away what covers the lover’s soul,” he writes. This is not a metaphor for harm, but for purification. “Love’s sword severs sins.” These lines speak of love as an active force that removes the layers that block clarity and sincerity of being.

Rumi continues with an image of what remains once this cutting away is complete: “When the bodily grime is gone, a shining moon appears.” This “Spirit’s moon in a wide-open sky” is what the soul becomes when cleansed by love—open, luminous, and undistorted. The imagery points to a movement from obscurity to openness, from covering to clarity. This is not accomplished through effort alone but through the presence of love, which “keeps my body and soul alive.” Love is not an escape but the element that holds inner life together.

“I’ve beat this drum of Love for so long,” Rumi confesses, “for you whom I adore.” His life is shaped by devotion, not possession. His song is not about gaining but about surrender. “My life depends upon my dying,” he sings—not physical death, but the surrender of self-centeredness. He stays awake through this giving: “I dream but I do not sleep.” Even in uncertainty, he is unafraid: “This seagull fears no shipwreck. Her feet love to touch the Ocean.” These closing lines show what becomes possible when love, not fear, forms the ground of one’s being.

From The Introduction By Kabir Helminski

Each year my wife, Camille, and I would return as if to remind ourselves that the tangible atmosphere of love was real. And if it were real, it might be possible to somehow bring it back with us. We lived for that. And gradually, too, we assimilated some of the knowledge of love that is found in Rumi’s teachings and in the primary sources of the tradition: the Qur’an and the sayings of the Prophet.

Western culture has been shaped by the concept of freedom and personal expression, particularly in America. Perhaps even our concept of love is subservient to this emphasis on individuality, so that the emphasis of the phrase “Do you love me?” has moved toward “Do you love me?” Our culture seems to be pursuing this direction unabated.

How does Rumi’s teaching apply to the context of “human love” and all of its difficulties—our possessive, protective, and demanding nature? Rumi never denies the value and beauty of any form of love, but he sees every form of love as a stepping-stone to a higher love. We are always and continually searching for the one thing that will satisfy our hearts. The need for love is behind all human desires. But:

Everything, except love of the Most
Beautiful, is really agony.
It’s agony to move toward death and not drink the water of life.

—J. M. Rumi, Mathnawi I (3684-3687), in Rumi: Daylight, trans. Camille Helminski and Kabir Helminski (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1999).

In the Sufi understanding, our unrefined substance of love is the raw material of transformation. When I was just beginning this path, I once asked a certain shaykh how he decides whether someone has what it takes to make the journey of Sufism. “I ask them what they love,” he told me, “and if they love something, anything, with devotion, they have what it takes, because that love can be transformed into a higher love for Truth.”

—Kabir Helminski & Ahmad Rezwani, trans. [J. M. Rumi, Mathnawi I], in Love’s Ripening: Rumi On the Heart’s Journey (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2008).

To Live Through Love

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