Ghazal · Love

Thou and I (opening couplet)

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

Happy the moment when we are seated in the Palace, thou and I,

With two forms and with two figures but with one soul, thou and I.

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“Thou and I (opening couplet)” by Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) — quilloak.com/poems/rumi-thou-and-i

Quick facts

Poem: Thou and I (opening couplet)
Poet: Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī)
Length: 2 lines
Form: Ghazal, Short Poems
Themes: Love, Short

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 2 lines · one 2-line stanza
End rhyme: AA — a rhyming couplet.

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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 translationThou and I (opening couplet); 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 c84916fcfcc0699b…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Ghazal Short Poems Love Short

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