This is Episode 47 of Poems for the Speed of Life.

Today’s poem is "Shadow and Light Source Both" by Rumi.

Jalal ad-Din Muhummad Rumi, commonly known in English simply as Rumi, was a 13th century teacher, philosopher, mystic, Islamic scholar, and poet. 

At such a remove of time, language and place — how much resemblance, really, does modern day America or Australia or Ireland bear to Arabic Asia in the 1200s? — it can be hard to get to the heart of the real Rumi, or his work, such as the Maznavi, a six-volume mystical poem that spans somewhere close to 30,000 lines of poetry. 

Nevertheless, several recent translations — and, as in the popular work of the poet Coleman Barks, re-interpretations of existing English translations — added to the suitability of Rumi’s lines and couplets for the social media generation, has found new audiences for his work in the 21st century. 

This poem "Shadow and Light Source Both" is a poem about the shadows we carry with us, and what they might teach us about ourselves.

Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com