Love: Complementing Rumi And The Feminine Lens

The famous poet and mystic, Rumi once said “You have within you more love than you could ever understand.” As abstract, philosophical, and spiritual as the words seem, it is often different from the perspective lens of each individual who reads through a literary text. 

Understanding the experience and perception rooted from a feminine lens has been rarely done to describe the aspects that a female seeks to grasp from the literary text, thereby limiting the shared experiences and notions of love by women to be shared with other women who are essentially looking for ‘love’. 

As an emotion ‘love’ was realized by humanity only a little time ago, but for females it’s the least talked about topic for a vast majority. The expression remains suppressed by societal obligations, yet the humane need to find a vent is uniformly distributed in all sexes irrespective of any culture. Ironically love too has been the most profound characteristic mostly associated with the female nature, as that of being a nurturer, mother, homemaker, and caretaker, it is highly sought in whichever role she addresses. It has even been used to confine a female to certain societal roles as defined by patriarchy, yet the contrary is true for the nature of love. The universal nature and abundance in the infinity of the expression of love have been highlighted by Rumi in most of his quotes,

“When you seek love with all your heart,

You shall find its echo in the universe”

To talk more about the vastness entailed by love and about Rumi; some aspects of love that have been seldom discussed are: freedom, companionship, appreciation, giving credit, cooperation, care, concern, doting, and liberation. However, there floats a notion that love is all about getting bonded with someone, irrespective of the role and the type of relationship. Yet it is not realized that the sharing and interrelatedness are all unconditional, without the involvement of any kind of exchange, not even that of expectations. Indeed love opens the avenue to the ocean of infinity that gives the individuals involved, the wings to fly freely and feel liberated. The purity of the nature of love lies in an in-depth understanding of the subtle yet difficult nature of the expression which can even counteract and substitute the strongest and invincible emotion: fear. This hard-to-understand abstraction has been beautifully articulated by Rumi in the following quote:

“Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes, 

Because for those who love with their heart and soul 

There is no such thing as separation”

Love isn’t something that is simply shared with someone of opposite or similar sex, which is like confining the vast emotion to a very limited understanding, but love is there when a parent can provide freedom to their child to grow and make their own choice, it is there when a grandchild can dote on their grandparents who might even be living at a distant place, love is there when a friend accepts and tries listens to another friend, and just forgives because its ‘out of love’, love is there when a child cares for their parents, love is when one protects their sibling, love is when one cares for a child, love is when one believes in the superpower to take care and be concerned, love is when we work for a cause and meet deadlines in the organization, love is when one acts through the values of humanity and love is when we care about ourselves and involve in self-love! I end with a quote of mine on love:

“Love is boundless, healing and miraculous,

Do not fear to fall in love as it overcomes all!”

Written By-

Reference for quotes: Rumi Quotes (2019). Delhi Open Books.