35 Bewitching Love Poems by Rumi (+ My #1 Favorite)

Enter the enchanting world of iridescent works of love by Rumi with our timeless poems gathered in one post that will hit your heart like cupid’s arrow.

From short love poems that echo the essence of endless love to romantic poems that will make you feel like floating down the aisle to the one you love, these poems are the best collection for you.

So if you’re ready for another poetic adventure that involves taking a peak to the genius mind of Rumi, don’t hold yourself back anymore and explore our lovely selection.

Let’s get right to it!

My #1 Favorite Love Poem by Rumi

Beautiful young woman with wreath of wildflowers in their hair.

“The Flame of Love” by Rumi

How long wilt thou dwell on words and superficialities?
A burning heart is what I want; consort with burning!
Kindle in thy heart the flame of Love,
And burn up utterly thoughts and fine expressions.
O Moses! the lovers of fair rites are one class,
They whose hearts and souls burn with Love another.

Famous Short Love Poems by Rumi

elegant lady in a white dress flying in the wind

“The Souls Love Moved” by Rumi

The souls love-moved are circling on,
Like streams to their great Ocean King.
Thou art the Sun of all men’s thoughts;
Thy kisses are the flowers of spring.
The dawn is pale from yearning Love;
The moon in tears is sorrowing.
Thou art the Rose, and deep for Thee,
In sighs, the nightingales still sing.

“Love Sounds the Music of the Spheres” by Rumi

O, soul, if thou, too, wouldst be free,
Then love the Love that shuts thee in.
‘Tis Love that twisteth every snare;
‘Tis Love that snaps the bond of sin;
Love sounds the Music of the Spheres;
Love echoes through Earth’s harshest din.

The world is God’s pure mirror clear,
To eyes when free from clouds within.
With Love’s own eyes the Mirror view,
And there see God to self akin.

“The Voice of Love” by Rumi

Every moment the voice of Love is coming from left and right.
We are bound for heaven: who has a mind to sight-seeing?
We have been in heaven, we have been friends of the angels;
Thither, Sire, let us return, for that is our country.

Romantic young blonde woman with a wreath of red flowers in a light white dress

“Love’s Desire” by Rumi

Show Thy face, for I desire the orchard and the rose-garden;
Ope Thy lips, for I desire sugar in plenty.
O sun, show forth Thy face from the veil of cloud,
For I desire that radiant glowing countenance.

“Earthly Love and the Love Divine” by Rumi

‘Twere better that the spirit which wears not true Love as a garment
Had not been: its being is but shame.

Without the dealing of Love there is no entrance to the Beloved.

‘Tis Love and the Lover that live to all Eternity;
Set not thy heart on aught else; ’tis only borrowed,
How long wilt thou embrace a dead beloved?
Embrace the Soul which is embraced by nothing.
What was born of spring dies in autumn,
Love’s rose-plot hath no aiding from the early spring.

“This Is Love” by Rumi

This is Love: to fly heavenward,
To rend, every instant, a hundred veils.
The first moment, to renounce Life:
The last step, to feel without feet.
To regard this world as invisible,
Not to see what appears to one’s self.
“O heart,” I said, “may it bless thee
To have entered the circle of lovers,
To look beyond the range of the eye,
To penetrate the windings of the bosom!
Whence did this breath come to thee, O my soul,
Whence this throbbing, O my heart?”

beautiful young woman in white with flower head wreath sitting on vintage chest in the garden

“The Beloved All In All” by Rumi

My Soul sends up to Heaven each night the cry of Love!
God’s starry Beauty draws with might the cry of Love!
Bright sun and moon each morn dance in my Heart at Dawn:
And waking me at daylight, excite the cry of Love!
On every meadow glancing, I see God’s sun-beams play;
And all Creation’s wonders excite the cry of Love!

I, All in All becoming, now clear see God in All;
And up from Union yearning, takes flight the cry of Love!

“The Music of Love” by Rumi

Hail to thee, then, O LOVE, sweet madness!
Thou who healest all our infirmities!
Who art the Physician of our pride and self conceit!
Who art our Plato and our Galen!
Love exalts our earthly bodies to heaven,
And makes the very hills to dance with joy!
O lover, ’twas Love that gave life to Mount Sinai,
When “it quaked, and Moses fell down in a swoon.”
Did my Beloved only touch me with His lips,
I too, like a flute, would burst out into melody.

“When the Rose Has Faded” by Rumi

When the rose has faded and the garden is withered,
The song of the nightingale is no longer to be heard.
The BELOVED is all in all, the lover only veils Him;
The BELOVED is all that lives, the lover a dead thing.
When the lover feels no longer LOVE’S quickening,
He becomes like a bird who has lost its wings. Alas!
How can I retain my senses about me,
When the BELOVED shows not the Light of His countenance?

Beautiful woman in fiery red dress holding a giant red flower outdoor at sunset

“O Love, Love, and Heart’s Desire of Love!” by Rumi

Israfil of the resurrection-day of Love!
Love, Love, and heart’s desire of Love!
Let thy first boon to me be this:
To lend thine ear to my orisons,
Though thou knowest my condition clearly,
O protector of slaves, listen to my speech.
A thousand times, O prince incomparable,
Has my reason taken flight in desire to see thee,
And to hear thee and to listen to thy words,
And to behold thy life-giving smiles.
Thy inclining thine ear to my supplications
Is as a caress to my misguided soul.

“The Silence of Love” by Rumi

Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries.
A lover may hanker after this love or that love,
But at the last he is drawn to the KING of Love.
However much we describe and explain Love,
When we fall in love we are ashamed of our words.
Explanation by the tongue makes most things clear,
But Love unexplained is better.

“The Religion of Love” by Rumi

The sect of lovers is distinct from all others,
Lovers have a religion and a faith of their own.
Though the ruby has no stamp, what matters it?
Love is fearless in the midst of the sea of fear.

aristocratic woman in a white ball gown sitting in a luxury vintage room

“Love More Than Sorrow and Joy” by Rumi

Come then, O Lord!
Who art exalted above description and explanation!
Is it possible for the bodily eye to behold Thee?
Can mind of man conceive Thy frowns and Thy smiles?
Are hearts, when bewitched by Thy smiles and frowns,
In a fit state to see the vision of Thyself?
When our hearts are bewitched by Thy smiles and frowns,
Can we gain Life from these two alternating states?
The fertile garden of Love, as it is boundless,
Contains other fruits besides joy and sorrow.
The true lover is exalted above these two states,
He is fresh and green independently of autumn or spring!
Pay tithe on Thy beauty, O Beauteous One!
Tell forth the tale of the Beloved, every whit!

“The Torch of Love” by Rumi

“Moth- like he has seen the blaze of the light,
And fool-like has plunged therein and lost his life.”
But the torch of love is not like that torch,
‘Tis light, light in the midst of light,
‘Tis the reverse of torches of fire,
It appears to be fire, but is all sweetness.

“The Sea of Love” by Rumi

Mankind, like waterfowl, are sprung from the sea—the Sea of Soul;
Risen from that Sea, why should the bird make here his home?
Nay, we are pearls in that Sea, therein we all abide;
Else, why does wave follow wave from the Sea of Soul?
‘Tis the time of Union’s attainment, ’tis the time of Eternity’s beauty,
‘Tis the time of favour and largesse, ’tis the Ocean of perfect purity.
The billow of largesse hath appeared, the thunder of the Sea hath arrived,
The morn of blessedness hath dawned. Morn? No, ’tis the Light of God.

Woman in a red dress standing on a hill looking towards the castle at sunset

“The House of Love” by Rumi

This is the Lord of Heaven, who resembles Venus and the moon,
This is the House of Love, which has no bound or end.
Like a mirror, the soul has received Thy image in its heart;
The tip of Thy curl has sunk into my heart like a comb.
Forasmuch as the women cut their hands in Joseph’s presence,
Come to me, O soul, for the Beloved is in the midst.

Romantic Rumi Love Poems

gentle blonde fairy in a pink blooming garden

“My Body Is Like the Moon” by Rumi

My body is like the moon which is melting for Love,
My heart like Zuhra’s lute—may its strings be broken!
Look not on the moon’s waning nor on Zuhra’s broken state:
Behold the sweetness of his affection—may it wax a thousandfold!

“The Beauty of the Beloved” by Rumi

O Beloved, spiritual beauty is very fair and glorious,
But Thine own beauty and loveliness is another thing.
O Thou who art years describing Spirit,
Show one quality that is equal to His Essence.
Light waxes in the eye at the imagination of Him,
But in presence of His Union it is dimmed.
I stand open-mouthed in veneration of that beauty:
“God is most great” is on my heart’s lips every moment.
The heart hath gotten an eye constant in desire of Thee.
O how that desire feeds heart and eye!
‘Tis slave-caressing Thy Love has practised;
Else, where is the heart worthy of that Love?
Every heart that has slept one night in Thy air
Is like radiant day.

“The Journey to the Beloved” by Rumi

O lovers, O lovers, it is time to abandon the world:
The drum of departure reaches my spiritual ear from heaven.
Behold, the driver has risen and made ready his files of camels,
And begged us to acquit him of blame: why, O travellers, are you asleep?
These sounds before and behind are the din of departure and of the camel-bells;
With each moment a soul and spirit is setting off into the Void.
From these inverted candles, from these blue awnings
There has come forth a wondrous people, that the mysteries may be revealed.
A heavy slumber fell upon thee from the circling spheres:
Alas, for this life so light, beware of this slumber so heavy!
O soul, seek the Beloved, O friend, seek the Friend,
O watchman, be wakeful: it behoves not a watchman to sleep.

Beautiful girl dressed in white enjoying the flowers on the lavender field

“The Beloved Compared to a Sweet Garden” by Rumi

“We bow down our heads before His edict and ordinance,
We stake precious life to gain His favour.
While the thought of the Beloved fills our hearts,
All our work is to do Him service and spend life for Him.
Wherever He kindles His destructive torch,
Myriads of lovers’ souls are burnt therewith.
The lovers who dwell within the sanctuary
Are moths burnt with the torch of the Beloved’s face.”
O heart, haste thither, for God will shine upon you,
And seem to you a sweet garden instead of a terror.
He will infuse into your soul a new Soul,
So as to fill you, like a goblet, with wine.
Take up your abode in His Soul!
Take up your abode in heaven, O bright full moon!
Like the heavenly Scribe, He will open your heart’s book
That He may reveal mysteries unto you.

“The Love of the Soul and the Love of the Body” by Rumi

The Love of the soul is for Life and the Living One,
Because its origin is the Soul not bound to place.
The Love of the soul is for wisdom and knowledge,
That of the body for houses, gardens, and vine-yards;
The love of the soul is for things exalted on high,
That of the body for acquisition of goods and food.
The Love, too, of Him on high is directed to the soul:
Know this, for “He loves them that love Him.”
The sum is this: that whoso seeks another,
The soul of that other who is sought inclines to him.

“Wonders I Have Seen” by Rumi

No joy have I found in the two worlds apart from thee,
Beloved.
Many wonders I have seen: I have not seen a wonder
like thee.
They say that blazing fire is the infidel’s portion
I have seen none, save Abu Lahab, excluded from thy fire.
Often have I laid the spiritual ear at the window of the
heart
I heard much discourse, but the lips I did not see.
Of a sudden thou didst lavish grace upon thy servant:
I saw no cause for it but thy infinite kindness.
O chosen Cup-bearer, 0 apple of mine eyes, the like of
thee
Ne’er appeared in Persia, nor in Arabia have I found it.
Pour out wine till I become a wanderer from myself;
For in selfhood and existence I have felt only fatigue.

O thou who art milk and sugar, O thou who art sun
and moon,
O thou who art mother and father, I have known no
kin but thee.
O indestructible Love, O divine Minstrel,
Thou art both stay and refuge: a name equal to thee
I have not found.
We are pieces of steel, and thy love is the magnet:
Thou art the source of all aspiration, in myself I have
seen none.
Silence, O brother ! put learning and culture away:
Till Thou namedst culture, I knew no culture but Thee.

enchanting flower fairy in white fantasy garden

“Drunk With Love” by Rumi

“I journeyed long time to East and to West,
I journeyed years and months for love of that Moon,
Heedless of the way, absorbed in God.
With bare feet I trod upon thorns and flints,
Seeing I was bewildered, and beside myself, and senseless.
Think not my feet touched the earth,
For the lover verily travels with the heart.
What knows the heart of road and stages?
What of distant and near, while it is drunk with love?

“The Moon-Soul and the Sea” by Rumi

At morning-tide a moon appeared in the sky,
And descended from the sky and gazed on me.
Like a falcon which snatches a bird at the time of hunting,
That moon snatched me up and coursed over the sky.
When I looked at myself, I saw myself no more,
Because in that moon my body became by grace even as soul.
When I travelled in soul, I saw naught save the moon,
Till the secret of the Eternal Theophany was revealed.
The nine spheres of heaven were all merged in that moon,
The vessel of my being was completely hidden in the sea.
The sea broke into waves, and again Wisdom rose
And cast abroad a voice; so it happened and thus it befell.
Foamed the sea, and at every foam-fleck
Something took figure and something was bodied forth.
Every foam-fleck of body, which received a sign from that sea,
Melted straightway and turned to spirit in this Ocean.

Rumi Love Poems for a Wedding

whimsical woodland wedding with the bride and groom surrounded by towering trees and twinkling fairy lights

“Thou and I” by Rumi

Happy the moment when we are seated in the Palace, thou and I,
With two forms and with two figures but with one soul, thou and I.
The colours of the grove and the voice of the birds will bestow immortality
At the time when we come into the garden, thou and I.
The stars of heaven will come to gaze upon us;
We shall show them the moon itself, thou and I.
Thou and I, individuals no more, shall be mingled in ecstasy,
Joyful, and secure from foolish babble, thou and I.
All the bright-plumed birds of heaven will devour their hearts with envy
In the place where we shall laugh in such a fashion, thou and I.
This is the greatest wonder, that thou and I, sitting here in the same nook,
Are at this moment both in Irāq and Khorasan, thou and I.

“The Love of the Beloved” by Rumi

No lover ever seeks union with his beloved,
But his beloved is also seeking union with him.
But the lover’s love makes his body lean,
While the Beloved’s love makes her fair and lusty.
When in this heart the lightning spark of love arises,
Be sure this Love is reciprocated in that heart.
When the Love of God arises in thy heart,
Without doubt God also feels love for thee.

“Where Love Is” by Rumi

A damsel said to her lover, “O fond youth,
You have visited many cities in your travels;
Which of those cities seems most delightful to you?”
He made answer, “The city wherein my love dwells,
In whatever nook my queen alights;
Though it be as the eye of a needle, ’tis a wide plain;
Wherever her Yusuf-like face shines as a moon,
Though it be the bottom of a well, ’tis Paradise.
With thee, my love, hell itself were heaven.
With thee a prison would be a rose-garden.
With thee hell would be a mansion of delight,
Without thee lilies and roses would be as flames of fire!”

fantasy queen with white headdress holding a yellow rose in the garden

“Mortality and Immortality” by Rumi

What a Bride is in the soul! By the reflection of Her face
May the world be freshened and coloured like the hands of the newly married!
Look not on the fleshy cheek which corrupts and decays,
Look on the spiritual cheek—may it be sweet and agreeable!
The dark body resembles a raven, and the body’s world winter;
O in spite of these two unpleasants may there be Eternal Spring!

“From Description of Love” by Rumi

A true lover is proved such by his pain of heart;
No sickness is there like sickness of heart.
The lover’s ailment is different from all ailments;
Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries.
A lover may hanker after this love or that love,
But at the last he is drawn to the King of love.
However much we describe and explain love,
When we fall in love we are ashamed of our words.
Explanation by the tongue makes most things clear,
But love unexplained is clearer.

“Love Endures Hardships at the Hands of the Beloved” by Rumi (E.H. Whinfield, Translator)

Through love bitter things seem sweet,
Through love bits of copper are made gold.
Through love dregs taste like pure wine,
Through love pains are as healing balms.
Through love thorns become roses,
And through love vinegar becomes sweet wine.
Through love the stake becomes a throne,
Through love reverse of fortune seems good fortune.
Through love a prison seems a rose bower,
Without love a grate full of ashes seems a garden.
Through love burning fire is pleasing light,
Through love the Devil becomes a Houri.
Through love hard stones become soft as butter,
Without love soft was becomes hard iron .
Through love grief is as joy,
Through love Ghouls turn into angels.
Through love stings are as honey,
Through love lions are harmless as mice.
Through love sickness is health ,
Through love wrath is as mercy,
Through love the dead rise to life,
Through love the king becomes a slave.

red-haired forest fairy lying on the mossy tree roots

“Love Generates Love” by Rumi

The heart of man is like the root of a tree,
Therefrom grow the leaves on firm branches.
Corresponding to that root grow up branches
As well on the tree as on souls and intellects.
The tops of the perfect trees reach the heavens,
The roots firm, and the branches in the sky.
Since then the tree of love bas grown up to heaven,
How shall it not also grow in the heart of the Prince?
A wave washes away the remembrance of the sin from his heart,
For from each heart isa window to other hearts;
Since in each heart there is a window to other hearts,
They are not separated and shut off like two bodies.
Thus, even though two lamp-dishes be not joined,
Yet their light is united in a single ray.
No lover ever seeks union with his beloved,
But his beloved is also seeking union with him.
But the lover’s love makes his body lean,
While the beloved’s love makes hers fair and lusty.
When in this heart the lightning spark of love arises,
Be sure this love is reciprocated in that heart.
When the love of God arises in thy heart,
Without doubt God also feels love for thee.

“I Will Cherish the Soul” by Rumi

I am a painter, a maker of pictures ; every moment I
shape a beauteous form,
And then in thy presence I melt them all away.
I call up a hundred phantoms and indue them
with a spirit;
When I behold thy phantom, I cast them in the fire.
Art thou the Vintner’s cup-bearer or the enemy of him
who is sober,
Or is it thou who mak’st a ruin of every house I build?
In thee the soul is dissolved, with thee it is mingled;
Lo! I will cherish the soul, because it has a perfume
of thee.
Every drop of blood which proceeds from me is saying
to thy dust
‘I am one colour with thy love, I am the partner of
thy affection.’ In the house of water and clay this heart is desolate
without thee;
0 Beloved, enter the house, or I will leave it.

“When Man and Woman Become One” by Rumi

Where are “We” and “I”? There where our Beloved is!
O Thou, who art exempt from “Us” and “Me,”
Who pervadest the spirits of all men and women;
When man and woman become one, Thou art that One!
When their union is dissolved, lo! Thou abidest!
Thou hast made these “Us” and “Me” for this purpose,
To wit, to play chess with them by Thyself.
When Thou shalt become one entity with “Us” and “You,”
Then wilt Thou show true affection for these lovers.
When these “We” and “Ye” shall all become One Soul,
Then they will be lost and absorbed in the “Beloved.”

smiling young lady with a white flower wreath on her head

“Love the Source of Light Rather Than Vanishing Form” by Rumi

Whatsoever is perceived by sense He annuls,
But He stablishes that which is hidden from the senses.
The lover’s love is visible, his Beloved hidden.
The Friend is absent, the distraction He causes present.
Renounce these affections for outward forms,
Love depends not on outward form or face.
Whatever is beloved is not a mere empty form,
Whether your beloved be of the earth or heaven.
Whatever is the form you have fallen in love with—
Why do you forsake it the moment life leaves it?
The form is still there; whence then this disgust at it?
Ah! lover, consider well what is really your beloved.
If a thing perceived by outward senses is the beloved,
Then all who retain their senses must still love it;
And since Love increases constancy,
How can constancy fail while form abides?
But the truth is, the sun’s beams strike the wall,
And the wall only reflects that borrowed light.
Why give your heart to mere stones, O simpleton?
Go! Seek the Source of Light which shineth alway!