The Guest House

The Guest House

Rūmī

Translated by Coleman Barks

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

(Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī was a 13th-century Persian Sufi mystic, poet and theologian. Rūmī was born in modern-day Afghanistan into a family of well-regarded Islamic Sufi scholars, and he lived most of his life in modern-day Turkey.)