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Ghazal · Peace

What Is to Be Done, O Moslems? (opening lines)

by Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) · translated by R. A. Nicholson

1What is to be done, O Moslems? for I do not recognise myself.

2I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Gabr, nor Moslem.

3I am not of the East, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea;

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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.

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.
Jurisdiction-specific, never a worldwide claimRights policyReport a text or rights issue

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