Summary Of The Guest House By Jalaluddin Rumi

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Imagine a life where everything was miraculous, picturesque, and serene and nothing displeasing, abrupt, or appalling ever occurred; where every individual’s life was perfect and complete, and everyone was always prepared for what the future had to offer. As lovely as that seems, life is dramatically different. It is unjust, unpredictable, and erratic, filled with countless pleasant and blissful memories and unfortunately, various taxing and challenging hardships as well. In fact, Jalaluddin Rumi, a religious poet born in Persia in 1207, was regularly praised for the outstanding, inspiring, and spiritual poems he wrote, nevertheless he suffered a tragic and drastic turning point in his life after his closest friend, Shams Tabriz, abruptly disappeared in 1248 (“Jalal al-Din Rumi”). This sudden event caused Rumi to feel torn and dismayed, which “led to the outpouring of more than 40,000 lyric verses, including odes, eulogies, quatrains, and other styles of Eastern-Islamic poetry” that numerous amounts of people still read to this day (“Jalal al-Din Rumi”). Hence, Jalaluddin Rumi’s poem “The Guest House” brings to light the countless occurrences, thoughts, and feelings people face during a distressing time in their life and just how to handle them. Jalaluddin Rumi’s poem illustrates how having a chaotic, inconsistent life of emotions and situations is part of being human. For instance, in the lines, “This being human is a guest house. / Every morning a new arrival” (lines