Rumi, Dancing the Flame

Rumi, Fountain of Fire

unknown existence
undiscovered beauty
that's how you are
so far
but
one dawn
just like a sun
right from within
you will arise

Rumi had a strong influence on Nader Khalili all his life starting with the poems his grandmother would whisper in his ear to help him sleep as a young child. As he describes his connection to Rumi he says, "As an architect fired by a quest, spending twenty-five years in the deserts of Iran and California, I have come to know five personalities very closely: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Rumi. I have been blessed by making my life's work following this narrow stream springing from this ocean that is Rumi."

"There is a tremendous joie de vivre in these robust, passionate and pithy short poems. They deal with life in all its senses, expressing universal feelings about life and love at a time when we are so disengaged from fundamental emotions"
—Frances Anderton, contributor, New York Times/ Los Angeles Times