Let the Lover Be

Let the Lover Be - context Summary

From the Divan-e Shams

This short lyric appears in Rumi's Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi and reflects his central teaching of ecstatic, all-consuming divine love. It defends a lover's apparent disorder — disgrace, madness, absentmindedness — as part of a spiritual surrender that reckless behavior makes visible. The poem contrasts the lover's abandonment of social caution with the sober person's anxiety about outcomes, suggesting spiritual passion transcends worldly judgment. In the Divan context the lines echo the influence of Shams-e Tabrizi, whose radical example encouraged valuing inner union over outer reputation.