Ghazal · Peace
What Is to Be Done, O Moslems? (opening lines)
by Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) · translated by R. A. Nicholson
What is to be done, O Moslems? for I do not recognise myself.
I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Gabr, nor Moslem.
I am not of the East, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea;
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“What Is to Be Done, O Moslems? (opening lines)” by Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) — quilloak.com/poems/rumi-neither-christian-nor-jew
Quick facts
- Poem
- What Is to Be Done, O Moslems? (opening lines)
- Poet
- Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī)
- Length
- 3 lines
- Form
- Ghazal, Free Verse
- Themes
- Peace, Inspirational
Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
The translation is treated as a separate work and reviewed from the cited historical edition.
- Author record
- Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī)1207–1273
- Source record
- Cited historical translationWhat Is to Be Done, O Moslems? (opening lines); Selected Poems from the Dīvāni Shamsi Tabrīz, 1898
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Selected Poems from the Dīvāni Shamsi Tabrīz, 1898
- Translation
- R. A. Nicholson
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 c176d17808b3643e…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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