Without Cause
Love is reckless; not reason. Reason seeks a profit. Love comes on strong, consuming herself, unabashed. Yet, in the midst of suffering, love proceeds like a millstone, hard surfaced and straightforward. Having died of self-interest, she risks everything and asks for nothing. Love gambles away every gift God bestows. Without cause God gave us Being; Without cause, give it back again.
Without Cause - context Summary
Sufi Doctrine of Selfless Love
This short lyric, included in the Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi, presents Rumi’s Sufi context: love as a spiritual practice that discards calculation and self-interest. The poem contrasts reason, which seeks profit, with a reckless, self-consuming love that accepts suffering and risks everything. It frames divine existence as a gratuitous gift—Being given without cause—that calls for a matching, uncalculated return. Read as a teaching, the poem urges annihilation of ego and generous surrender to God, reflecting central themes in Rumi’s mystical philosophy.
Read Complete Analyses
Feel free to be first to leave comment.