The Whole World Appears Like a Paradise to One Who is Reverent

The verse of thirteenth-century poet-sage Jalal-ud-Din Rumi inspired this month’s Creativity Rx newsletter. Rumi wrote out of devotion to the divine*, yet his words feel universal, especially in the following poem.

(If the idea of a masculine deity offends you, replace the word with a feminine or gender-neutral form. If the idea of the divine offends you, get creative in your substitutions.)

Waters Constantly Flowing

This entire world’s the form of Universal Reason,

Which is the Father of all lovers of the Divine Word.

Be ungrateful towards Him and nothing can change.

Make your peace with your Father, abandon disobedience,

And this world’s water and clay will appear like a gold carpet

And Resurrection become your immediate experience

And heaven and earth be transfigured in your eyes.

Since I’m always at peace with my Father,

The world always appears like a paradise to me.

At each moment, a new form and new beauty appear

And their glory dissolves all fear and boredom.

I see the world radiant and brimming with magnificence;

The waters constantly flowing from the Springs of Heaven.

The sound of these waters is always enchanting my ears;

My deepest mind and consciousness reel with bliss.

The branches of the trees dance for me like penitents;

I see leaves everywhere clapping their hands like musicians.

The mirror’s shining seeps through its velvet sheath—

Imagine the blaze when the Mirror itself appears!

~ Rumi