Attributed to Rumi
«Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.»
Misattributed
Verdict
It is not in Rumi's work
No source in any work of Rumi; it appears on social media and in self-help books from the 2010s onward.
Source: Ali, Rozina. «The Erasure of Islam from the Poetry of Rumi». The New Yorker, 5 de enero de 2017.
What they did say
Verified words of Rumi
«Listen to the reed how it tells a tale, complaining of separations— Saying, "Ever since I was parted from the reed-bed, my lament hath caused man and woman to moan."»
Masnavi, libro I, vv. 1–2 (trad. inglesa de Nicholson, 1926; texto persa según Ganjoor; la versión de Nicholson sigue una lectura que invierte «queja» y «relato»)
«The lover's ailment is separate from all other ailments: love is the astrolabe of the mysteries of God.»
Masnavi, libro I, v. 110 (trad. Nicholson, 1926)
«Whether love be from this (earthly) side or from that (heavenly) side, in the end it leads us yonder.»
Masnavi, libro I, v. 111 (trad. Nicholson, 1926)