Jalal Al-Din Rumi (1207-1273) is a complex poet. His frequent use of flamboyant, often sensual, metaphor to express mystical thought can both confound and illuminate. But Rumi’s Sufism denominates his spirituality as being derived ultimately from a monastic versus an eremitic tradition, or perhaps rather from an intellectual or artistic source given his poetic propensities.
Rumi approves of that necessary solitude that equates to occasional or routine spiritual practice or discipline. Hence, his advice on solitude, while not as compelling to pursue as is the trace of his fantastical poetry for its literary brilliance, is nevertheless helpful.
Here are most references of Rumi to solitude, citing the Coleman Barks translations.
*****
Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.
Live in silence.
from “A Community of the Spirit”
Be melting snow,
Wash yourself of yourself.
…..
A white flower grows in the quietness.
Let your tongue become that flower.
from “Be Melting Snow”
Be quiet and clear now
Like the final touchpoint of calligraphy.
from “Sanai”
Feeling lonely and ignoble indicates
that you haven’t been patient.
from “Craftsmanship and Emptiness”
Finally I know the freedom
of madness.
from “No Flags”
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field, I’ll meet you there.
from “A Great Wagon”
Live in the nowhere that you came from,
even though you have an address here.
…..
Spend less time with nightingales and peacocks.
One is just a voice, the other just a color.
from “Tending Two Shops”
A great soul hides like Muhammad, or Jesus,
moving through a crowd in a city
where no one knows him.
from “Buoyancy”
The next passage — the entirety of “One Who Wraps Himself” — contradicts the image of Jesus expressed in “Bouyancy” by advocating that the listener live, practice, and preach in the marketplace and not remain hidden and anonymous (like the hermit?). These views are reminiscent of Nietzsche’s dilemma for Zarathustra, where the latter comes to realize the futility of the marketplace, and, therefore, the necessary rejection of the world and of public teaching
God called the Prophet Muhammad Muzzammil, “The One Who Wraps Himself,”
and said, “Come out from under your cloak, you so fond
of hiding and running away.
Don’t cover your face. The world is a reeling, drunken body, and you
are its intelligent head.
Don’t hide the candle of your clarity. Stand up and burn
through the night, my prince.
Without your light a great lion is held captive by a rabbit!
Be the captain of the ship, Mustafa, my chosen one, my expert guide.
Look how the caravan of civilization has been ambushed.
Fools are everywhere in charge.
Do not practice solitude like Jesus. Be in the assembly,
and take charge of it.
As the bearded griffin, the Humay, lives on Mt. Qaf because he’s native to it,
so you should live most naturally out in public and be a communal teacher of souls.
from “One Who Wraps Himself”
Which is worth more, a crowd of thousands, or your own genuine solitude?
Freedom, or power over an entire nation?
A little while alone in your room
will prove more valuable than anything else that could ever be given you.
from “The Private Banquet”