“The Forty Rules of Love” is a novel written by Turkish author Elif Shafak. The book explores the theme of love through the life of the famous poet Rumi and his spiritual teacher Shams of Tabriz.
Here are a few quotes from the book:
“The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart.”
Forty Rules of Love Quotes
“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?”
“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”
“The path to the Truth is a labor of the heart, not of the head. Make your heart your primary guide!”
“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.”
“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.”
“The real beloved is your beginning and your end. When you find that one, you’ll no longer expect anything else.”
“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.”
“God is busy with the completion of your work, both outwardly and inwardly. He is fully occupied with you.”
“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.”
“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?”
“Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
“Sometimes the wound is the place where the light enters you.”
“Don’t be fooled by the face I wear. For I wear a mask, a thousand masks, and none of them are me.”
“In the sea of your thoughts, I find my ship.”
“Love is an art, not a science.”
“Whatever purifies you is the right path.”
“Every loss leaves a space that can be filled with God’s light.”
“The wound is where the light enters you.”
“The mirror reflects perfectly; it makes no mistakes because it doesn’t think. To think is to make mistakes.”
“Do not be satisfied with the stories that come before you. Unfold your own myth.”
“God is hidden in every thought, every heartbeat, every touch, every sight.”
“Love is an endless mystery, for it has nothing else to explain it.”
“Wisdom is knowing I am nothing, love is knowing I am everything, and between the two, my life moves.”
“The alchemy of love is the greatest of all arts.”
“Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.”
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
“Words, in my humble opinion, are our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”
“The world is a great ocean, where we all meet at different times. Sometimes we swim with each other, sometimes we are swept away by the tides.”
“Gamble everything for love, if you are a true human being. If not, leave this gathering. Half-heartedness doesn’t reach into majesty.”
“The quest for love changes us. There is no seeker among those who search for love who has not matured on the way. The moment you start looking for love, you start to change within and without.”
“The more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt.”
“The universe is one being. Everything and everyone is interconnected through an invisible web of stories. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all in a silent conversation.”
“The past is an interpretation. The future is an illusion. The world does not more through time as if it were a straight line, proceeding from the past to the future. Instead, time moves through and within us, in endless spirals. Eternity does not mean infinite time, but simply timelessness.”
“Loneliness and solitude are two different things. When you are lonely, it is easy to delude yourself into believing that you are on the right path. Solitude is better for us, as it means being alone without feeling lonely.”
“Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you.”
“The universe is a complete unique entity. Everything and everyone is bound together with some invisible strings. Do not break anyone’s heart; do not look down on weaker than you. One’s sorrow at the other side of the world can make the entire world suffer; one’s happiness can make the entire world smile.”
“A life without love is of no account. Don’t ask yourself what kind of love you should seek, spiritual or material, divine or mundane, Eastern or Western. Divisions only lead to more divisions. Love has no labels, no definitions. It is what it is, pure and simple.”
These quotes resonate deeply with me. The idea that love is an art, not a science, speaks to the profound and complex nature of human connections. Embodying one’s philosophy rather than explaining it is a powerful reminder to live authentically. It’s like Rumi’s words are a gentle breeze, guiding us on a journey of self-discovery and love. Truly inspiring!
The wisdom encapsulated in these quotes feels like a balm for the soul. ‘In the sea of your thoughts, I find my ship’ – what a beautiful metaphor for finding solace in someone’s presence. The notion that the past is an interpretation and the future an illusion challenges the conventional perception of time. It’s as if Shams of Tabriz is whispering timeless secrets, inviting us to dance with the eternal rhythm of the universe.
These quotes mirror the delicate dance between vulnerability and strength. ‘Every loss leaves a space that can be filled with God’s light’ speaks to the resilience that can be found in moments of sorrow. The reminder to seek and find the barriers within ourselves against love is a call to introspection. It’s as if each quote is a lantern guiding us through the labyrinth of life, illuminating the path towards a deeper understanding of love and spirituality.