Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi: Untitled ["Today Like Every Other Day"]

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty

and frightened. Don't open the door of your study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

Untitled ["Today Like Every Other Day"] by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, from The Essential Rumi, translated from the Persian and edited by Coleman Barks. © HarperOne, 2004.

Image credit: "Christian and Muslim Playing Ouds," illustration from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, often attributed to King Alphonse X (13th century, originally color).