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“You are a ruby embedded in granite”

You were born from a ray of God’s majesty
and have the blessings of a good star.
Why suffer at the hands of things that don’t exist?
Come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

You are a ruby embedded in granite.
How long will you pretend it’s not true?
We can see it in your eyes.
Come to the root of the root of your Self.

-Rumi, from “The Root of the Root of Your Self” in Love Is a Stranger: Selected Lyric Poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi

© Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts:
Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

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7 Responses

  2. Beautiful. I love Rumi, and this was the perfect message for me to hear right now. A perfect reminder that I am created from the Light, with beauty and blessings.

  3. I needed to hear that, Christine. I am spending the weekend with my sister-in-law who sets the stage for me to forget.

    Thank you so much.

  5. SS, you absolutely need to get a good Rumi collection in your library. :-) The image was sprayed on a sidewalk in my neighborhood and I was glad to have my camera on hand to capture it.

    You are welcome kigen! Most definitely gentle invitation and I love that the granite is the ground of possibility. We need a firm foundation from which to rise.

  6. Hi Christine, thank you for your sweet, wonderful blog!
    A very inspiring poem! and a pattern full of viridans, of greening, life energy! I think Rumi is inviting not commanding — it can’t be forced. I see the granite surface in your photo as infinite possibility (like a white canvas) and therefore just as precious as the ruby.

  7. Rumi – you know, I have none of his works in my library but he speaks so often in the words and lives of my seeker friends, I’m not sure why I don’t. Thank you for the words this a.m. I’m curious about the image……