In this powerful reflection, Omid Safi speaks to the necessity of moral clarity in times of violence and confusion. He reminds us that the poetry of Rumi did not emerge from peaceful conditions, but from an era marked by the devastation of the Mongol invasions, an onslaught that brought immense destruction and loss of life across entire regions. And yet, in the midst of brutality, Rumi sang of love. Not as denial. Not as escape. But as courage. Omid invites us to see that even in times shaped by empire and violence, the heart can refuse to be colonized by despair. Rumi’s insistence that “it is love that will take us home” becomes more than sentimentality, it becomes a moral orientation: an anchor that calls us to speak truth, to act with integrity, and to refuse numbness. We may remember the names of generals and empires for a time, but it is the poetry of love that endures across centuries. Perhaps this is the prayer for our moment: that in the face of devastation, we do not abandon the language of the heart. - From the "What Empire Cannot Erase" Community gathering #OmidSafi #Rumi #MoralClarity #RadicalLove #PoetryAsResistance #WhatEmpireCannotErase #SANDCommunity