Coleman Barks
American poet and translator best known for his interpretations of the thirteenth-century Persian mystic Rumi. A native of Tennessee and longtime professor at the University of Georgia, Barks does not read Persian — his "translations" are reinterpretations of earlier scholarly versions, rendered in the rhythms of contemporary American free verse. Through his books — The Essential Rumi, Rumi: The Big Red Book, The Soul of Rumi — Barks made Rumi the bestselling poet in America and introduced Sufi mystical poetry to millions of English readers.
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quotes in library
Quotes by Coleman Barks
69 quotes“You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.”
wingsThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“Become the sky. Take an axe to the prison wall. Escape.”
freedomThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“Walk to the well. Turn as the earth and the moon turn, circling what they love.”
loveThe Soul of Rumi
“Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.”
callingThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“In love, nothing is eternal but drinking.”
loveThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“There's no road sign, no map. Just the call.”
callingRumi: Bridge to the Soul
“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absentminded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”
loveThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“You are not made for crawling. You have wings.”
wingsThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“That which is the ground of all things — call it love. That which is the source of all longing — call it love.”
loveThe Soul of Rumi
“Be melting like snow. Wash yourself of yourself.”
surrenderThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“Don't move the way fear makes you move.”
fearThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“You must ask for what you really want. Don't go back to sleep.”
askingThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open.”
thresholdThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“Don't go back to sleep.”
awakeningThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“In silence, the heart finds a voice that the mouth cannot speak.”
silenceRumi: Bridge to the Soul
“Two there are who are never satisfied: the lover of the world, and the lover of knowledge.”
longingThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“This is now. Now is. Don't postpone till then.”
nowThe Soul of Rumi
“What you really see in the moment, is yourself.”
seeingThe Essential Rumi (Barks)
“Like a hand that's pulled out of water, with all the drops still falling — that's how I am with you.”
loveThe Soul of Rumi
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