Rumi's Divan-e-kabir Verses: 1 & 18 with Deep Explanation

Rumi’s Divan‑e‑Kabir: Verse 1 & 18 with Explanation and Meaning

Divan‑e‑Kabir (also known as the Great Divan or Kulliyat‑e Shams) is a monumental Persian poetry collection by the 13th‑century Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi. Comprising tens of thousands of verses, it explores Divine Love, spiritual longing, and mystical transformation.

Originally written in Persian, the Divan‑e‑Kabir has been rendered into English by noted translators such as Nevit O. Ergin, A. J. Arberry, and Coleman Barks, helping modern readers access Rumi’s timeless wisdom.

In this post we share Verse 1 and Verse 18 from Rumi’s Divan‑e‑Kabir, together with a clear explanation of their deeper meaning—how Love becomes the source of creation, purification of the heart, and the path toward Union with the Divine.

Rumi — Divan-e-Kabir

Verse 1 & Verse 18 (with Explanation)

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Verse 1

Beloved, whose Love gives arms and wings To the flyers in the sky of happiness And makes them go higher and higher, Different ecstasies come to the spiritual person Through Your chains of Love. "I don't like anything to set." III Those words are devoid of appearances. Forms and shapes from You Are seen every moment By those eyes that see hidden things. Hearts are upside down because of You. The earth has turned into a sea of blood. I cannot call You "Moon," O Beloved. Who has been above the moon, above time. The mountain is split open with Your grief. And that grief falls down to the bottom To blaze with glittering flames. All these favors, all these beauties Have grown and developed Because they acquired a drop of blood From Your favor and Grace. O the support and confidence of all great men, Consider us among them. As You know, tails will follow heads. You have created such a great man out of dust[2] That all the angels are jealous. The Soul is penniless compared to Your wealth. All goods and fortune fall to the ground underfoot. A person reaches the height of the sky If You become his arms and wings. That person carries the sign of beauty on his face And becomes more and more beautiful. Assume I'm a thorn, a bad one. But the thorn and rose go together. When a jeweler weighs gold, He puts barley as a weight On the other side of the scale. Actions go with ideas, Goods come from the earth. This situation appears in words; The words are the sign of situations, The beginning of the universe Is confusion, tumult.[3] The end is a shake and a quake. Love and gratitude are the same as complaints. Peace and comfort go hand-in-hand With jolts and shakes. Dawn is the decree of the sun. Love of God, the Sultan's monogram, And "the time of Union has come now:" Love is interpreted this way. Look at the One Who is the compassion of the universe. [4] Look at how He uplifts, gives status to the poor. Mantles are as bright as the moon. Look at how He uplifts, gives status to the poor. Mantles are as bright as the moon. Shawls smell like roses. Love is the whole thing. We are only pieces. Love is the sea of no end. We are a drop of it. He brings forth hundreds of proofs. We can find our way only through them. The sky turns only with Love. Without Love, even the stars Are eclipsed, extinguished. With Love, hunched back dal [5] become elif. [6] Once elif loses Love, it turns into dal. The word is the Fountain of Life, Because it originates From the Love of the knowledge Of the real truth of things. Don't keep Love away from your Soul, So that your good deeds may bear fruit And keep growing. The word is enough, even if it is scarce, For the one who understands its meaning, But it is never enough for the one Who sees only appearances. To him, the words are weak and pale. It doesn't matter If too many poems have been said. Wouldn't it be better If the sea were full of pearls? The camel can keep going stage by stage With the pleasure derived from poems.

Explanation (Verse 1)

Rumi describes Divine Love as the power that lifts the seeker “higher and higher,” turning chaos into meaning and pain into transformation. The Beloved (God) is beyond time and form; yet signs of that Presence appear continually to those with the “eyes that see hidden things.”

Images of mountains splitting, seas of blood, and flaming grief convey how spiritual longing breaks the ego open so that grace can enter. Human greatness, though made of “dust,” surpasses angels when supported by Divine favor. The thorn–rose and gold–barley analogies show how opposites complete each other: trials (thorns, barley weights) give value and balance to beauty (roses, gold).

Creation begins in “tumult” and resolves through Love; even gratitude and complaint are two currents in the same ocean moving the soul toward Union. Without Love, light itself dims; with Love, crooked letters straighten (a Persian allusion: dal bending, alif standing upright). Finally, the Word—speech rooted in real knowledge—gives life. For those who grasp meaning, a few words suffice; for those stuck on appearances, no amount is enough.

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Verse 18

Chat hodja's[7] feet got stuck in the mud In our neighborhood. Let me tell you his story. Do you remember the proverb, "The eye becomes blind when fate comes?" He used to boast cruelly, Tuck up his trousers So they wouldn't touch the ground. He used to walk pompously. He made fun of Lovers And used to accept Love as a plaything or toy. There are so many birds unaware of the trap, Flying without knowing that an arrow of trouble

Explanation (Verse 18)

This verse opens with a parable: a proud “hodja” (teacher) struts above ordinary life until fate—symbolized by mud—halts him. Rumi contrasts arrogance with the humility of Lovers (seekers of God). Those who mock Love are like birds unaware of the trap; their confidence blinds them to the sudden “arrow of trouble.” The lesson: spiritual awareness, not outward piety or pride, protects the heart.

© Shared for educational and devotional purposes.