An Untitled Poem by Rumi

This Rumi poem, translated by Stephen Mitchell, puts forward a philosophy on perceiving the world. You might think about the effect of presenting that philosophy in this form. Why a poem?

When grapes turn
To wine, they long for our ability to change.

When stars wheel
Around the North Pole,
They are longing for our growing consciousness.

Wine got drunk with us,
Not the other way.
The body developed out of us, not we from it.

We are bees,
And our body is a honeycomb.
We made
The body, cell by cell we made it.

Rumi (Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi) was a 13th century Persian muslim poet, jurist, and theologian. His name literally means "Majesty of Religion". He was born in Balkh (now part of Afghanistan) and died in present-day Turkey. His works are widely read in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and are in translation in Turkey, Azerbaijan, the U.S., and South Asia. He lived most of his life in, and produced his works under, the Seljuk Empire. Rumi's importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders.