Love
Love is common theme among many of Rumi’s poems. In “Love Is the Water of Life,” for example, Rumi suggests that a life without love is no life at all. Rumi used his poems to convey the importance of love. Love plays such a prominent role in Rumi’s poems that could often be considered an unnamed character. In “Where did the handsome beloved go?”, for example, love can almost be perceived as the antagonist. The narrator loved her beloved so much that she was quite literally unable to function when he disappeared. As a result, Rumi suggests that love is a complex emotion, one that is essential to life, but that can still break our hearts and souls.
God
Much like love, God also plays a very prominent role in many of Rumi’s poems. Rumi believed that God is in control of everyone’s livelihoods and destinies. In this way, he felt that it was blasphemous and foolish to believe that any one man can change, limit, or control their destiny. He believed that God is in control of all things and that humans should merely accept this fact. Rumi also drew parallels between themes of love and God. In “Love is the Master,” Rumi intimates that God is the very definition of love. He has a plan for each and every one of us and this plan has been personally constructed by God from a place of caring and love. In short, Rumi uses his poems to suggest that God is an all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful being—one that we should all accept and obey.
Destiny
As with his other themes, Rumi utilizes the rather other-worldly idea of destiny to suggest that humans should never be foolish enough to believe that we are completely in control of our lives. Though the idea of destiny is only expressly mentioned in one of his poems—“Love is the Master”—its presence can be felt throughout many of his works. Rumi’s discussions about love and God, for example, are tied expressly to ideas of destiny. Rumi firmly believed that everyone’s destiny rests in God’s hands. As God is an all-knowing and all-powerful being, Rumi urged his readers to understand that we humans have no control over our destiny. In “Where did the handsome beloved go?” the narrator comes to terms with the fact that her destiny does not include her beloved. She struggles to accept the fact that she is helpless to bring him back. And yet, she finds solace in both her love for him and the thought that he may be with God. Rumi uses his poems to help people realize that destiny cannot be bribed, altered, or reversed. It is completely out of our control—which is ultimately for the best.
