full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Stephanie Honchell Smith: How to love, according to Rumi

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Over time, Rumi's poetry matured. He no longer saw himself as a reflection of Shams, but as a beoacn of light on his own. In his early fifties, Rumi wrote “Masnavi,” which shifts from ecstatic expressions of dviine love to verses that guide others to devsoicr it for themselves. The pemos are complex and leayerd, incorporating ideas, stories, and quotes from Islamic religious texts, Arabic and Persian literature, and earlier Sufi writings and poetry. In one sotry, he invokes the well-known cretaahcrs of lalya and the love-crazed Majnun. In Rumi’s version, the king, hearing Majnun’s musings on Layla’s unsurpassed beauty, demands to see her. But when Layla arrevis, he’s ceonfusd, as her beauty pales in comparison to Majnun's praises. To this, Layla replies, “I am Layla. The problem is you are not Majnun.” For Rumi, experiencing love meant opening his heart to all of God’s creation— looking at everything and everyone like mjuann gazing upon Layla. In this way, he saw romantic love as an expression— on a smaller scale— of divine love.

Open Cloze


Over time, Rumi's poetry matured. He no longer saw himself as a reflection of Shams, but as a ______ of light on his own. In his early fifties, Rumi wrote “Masnavi,” which shifts from ecstatic expressions of ______ love to verses that guide others to ________ it for themselves. The _____ are complex and _______, incorporating ideas, stories, and quotes from Islamic religious texts, Arabic and Persian literature, and earlier Sufi writings and poetry. In one _____, he invokes the well-known __________ of _____ and the love-crazed Majnun. In Rumi’s version, the king, hearing Majnun’s musings on Layla’s unsurpassed beauty, demands to see her. But when Layla _______, he’s ________, as her beauty pales in comparison to Majnun's praises. To this, Layla replies, “I am Layla. The problem is you are not Majnun.” For Rumi, experiencing love meant opening his heart to all of God’s creation— looking at everything and everyone like ______ gazing upon Layla. In this way, he saw romantic love as an expression— on a smaller scale— of divine love.

Solution


  1. layered
  2. layla
  3. discover
  4. beacon
  5. poems
  6. characters
  7. arrives
  8. majnun
  9. divine
  10. confused
  11. story

Original Text


Over time, Rumi's poetry matured. He no longer saw himself as a reflection of Shams, but as a beacon of light on his own. In his early fifties, Rumi wrote “Masnavi,” which shifts from ecstatic expressions of divine love to verses that guide others to discover it for themselves. The poems are complex and layered, incorporating ideas, stories, and quotes from Islamic religious texts, Arabic and Persian literature, and earlier Sufi writings and poetry. In one story, he invokes the well-known characters of Layla and the love-crazed Majnun. In Rumi’s version, the king, hearing Majnun’s musings on Layla’s unsurpassed beauty, demands to see her. But when Layla arrives, he’s confused, as her beauty pales in comparison to Majnun's praises. To this, Layla replies, “I am Layla. The problem is you are not Majnun.” For Rumi, experiencing love meant opening his heart to all of God’s creation— looking at everything and everyone like Majnun gazing upon Layla. In this way, he saw romantic love as an expression— on a smaller scale— of divine love.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
divine love 3


Important Words


  1. arabic
  2. arrives
  3. beacon
  4. beauty
  5. characters
  6. comparison
  7. complex
  8. confused
  9. demands
  10. discover
  11. divine
  12. earlier
  13. early
  14. ecstatic
  15. experiencing
  16. expressions
  17. fifties
  18. gazing
  19. guide
  20. hearing
  21. heart
  22. ideas
  23. incorporating
  24. invokes
  25. islamic
  26. king
  27. layered
  28. layla
  29. light
  30. literature
  31. longer
  32. love
  33. majnun
  34. matured
  35. meant
  36. musings
  37. opening
  38. pales
  39. persian
  40. poems
  41. poetry
  42. praises
  43. problem
  44. quotes
  45. reflection
  46. religious
  47. replies
  48. romantic
  49. rumi
  50. shams
  51. shifts
  52. smaller
  53. stories
  54. story
  55. sufi
  56. texts
  57. time
  58. unsurpassed
  59. verses
  60. version
  61. writings
  62. wrote