Rumi

For the writing system, see Malay language.

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad
Era	Medieval
Region	Persian Muslim Philosopher
School	Sufi
Main interests	lyric poetry, music
Notable ideas	Persian poetry, Persian music, Persian philosophy, Sufi philosophy, and Sufi dance

Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (Template:PerB), also known as Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (Template:PerB), but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi, (30 September, 1207–17 December, 1273), was a 13th century Persian poet, Islamic jurist, and theologian. Rumi is a descriptive name meaning "the Roman" since he lived most parts of his life in Anatolia or 'Rum', now located in Turkey.

He was born in Balkh, (Template:PerB - Balḫ), in Persian Khurasan (eastern parts of the iranic plateau (modern Afghanistan)), the hometown of his family, although important Rumi scholars believe that Rumi was born in 1207 CE in Wakhsh (Waḫš), a small town located at the river Wakhsh in what is now Tajikistan. Wakhsh belonged to the larger province of Balkh, and in the year Rumi was born, his father was an appointed scholar there. Both these cities were at the time included in the Greater Persian cultural sphere of Khorāṣān, the easternmost province of historical Persia, and were part of the Khwarezmian Empire.

His birthplace and native language both indicate a Persian heritage. Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad (Rumi's father) or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm, his father decided to migrate westwards. Rumi's family traveled west, first performing the Hajj and eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya (capital of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, now located in Turkey), where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature and profoundly affected the culture of the area.

He lived most of his life under the Sultanate of Rum, where he produced his works and died in 1273 CE. He was buried in Konya and his shrine became a place of pilgrimage. Following his death, his followers and his son Sultan Walad founded the Mawlawīyah Sufi Order, also known as the order of the Whirling Dervishes, famous for its Sufi dance known as the samāʿ ceremony.

Rumi's works are written in the New Persian language. New Persian (the literature is called Dari), a widely understood vernacular of Middle Persian, has its linguistic origin in Fars Province of modern Iran then in Parthia, north eastern of Greater Iran (historical Iran). The New-Persian literary renaissance (In the 8th/9th century) started in regions of Sistan, Khorasan and Transoxiana when western Persia was forced to speak arabic and the Persian language was already died out for 200 yearsand by the 10th/11th century, it overtook Arabic as the literary and cultural language in the Persian Islamic world. Although Rumi's works were written in Persian, Rumi's importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders. His original works are widely read in the original language across the Persian-speaking world. Translations of his works are very popular in South Asian, Turkic, Arab and Western countries. His poetry has influenced Persian literature as well as Urdu, Bengali and Turkish literatures. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages in various formats, and BBC News has described him as the "most popular poet in America".

Life

File:Mevlanax.jpg

Mawlānā's tomb. "Konya",Turkey

He was born in Balkh, Khorasan (today known as Afghanistan). Rumi's life is described in Shams ud-Din Ahmad Aflāki's "Manāqib ul-Ārifīn" (written between 1318 and 1353). His father was Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad, a theologian, jurist and a mystic from Balkh, who was also known during his lifetime as "Sultan of the Scholars". His mother was Mu'mina Ḫātūn.

When the Mongols invaded Central Asia sometime between 1215 and 1220, his father with his whole family and a group of disciples set out westwards. On the road to Anatolia, Rumi encountered one of the most famous mystic Persian poets, Attar, in Iran's city of Nishapur, located in the western province of Khorāsān. 'Attar immediately recognized Rumi's spiritual eminence. He saw the father walking ahead of the son and said, "Here comes a sea followed by an ocean." He gave the boy his Asrārnāma, a book about the entanglement of the soul in the material world. This meeting had a deep impact on the eighteen-year-old Rumi's thoughts and later on became the inspiration for his works.

From Nishapur, Walad and his entourage set out for Baghdad, meeting many of the scholars and Sufis of the city. From there they went to Baghdad, and Hejaz and performed the pilgrimage at Mecca. The migrating caravan then passed through Damascus, Malatya, Erzincan, Sivas, Kayseri and Nigde. They finally settled in Karaman during seven years. His mother and his brother died in Karaman. In 1225 Rumi married Gawhar Khatun in Karaman. They had two sons: Sultan Walad and Alaeddin Çelebi. When his wife died, Rumi married again and had a son Emir Alim Çelebi and a daughter Melike Khatun.

On 1 May 1228, most likely as a result of the insistent invitation of 'Alā' ud-Dīn Key-Qobād, ruler of Anatolia, Baha' ud-Din came and finally settled in Konya in Anatolia within the westernmost territories of Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm.

Baha' ud-Din became the head of a madrassa (religious school) and when he died Rumi inherited his position and succeeded him at the age of twenty-five. One of Baha' ud-Din's students, Sayyed Burhan ud-Din-e Muhaqqiq, continued to train Rumi in the religious and mystical doctrines of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practiced Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240-1. From then on started Rumi's public life. He became the teacher who preached in the mosques of Konya and taught his adherents in the madrassah.

During this period Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.

It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on 15 November 1244 that changed his life completely. Shams had traveled throughout the Middle East searching and praying for someone who could "endure my company". A voice came, "What will you give in return?" "My head!" "The one you seek is Jalal ud-Din of Konya." On the night of December 5, 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. It is believed that he was murdered with the connivance of Rumi's son, 'Ala' ud-Din; if so, Shams indeed gave his head for the privilege of mystical friendship.

Rumi's love and his bereavement for the death of Shams found their expression in an outpouring of music, dance and lyric poems, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus. There, he realized:

Why should I seek? I am the same as

He. His essence speaks through me.

I have been looking for myself!

For more than ten years after meeting Shams, Mawlana had been spontaneously composing ghazals, and these had been collected in the Divan-i Kabir. Rumi found another companion in Salaḥ ud-Din-e Zarkub, the goldsmith. After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favorite student Hussam-e Chelebi assumed the role. One day, the two of them were wandering through the Meram vineyards outside of Konya when Hussam described an idea he had to Rumi: "If you were to write a book like the Ilāhīnāma of Sanai or the Mantiq ut-Tayr of 'Attar it would become the companion of many troubadours. They would fill their hearts from your work and compose music to accompany it."

Rumi smiled and took out a piece of paper on which were written the opening eighteen lines of his Masnavi, beginning with:

Listen to the reed and the tale it tells,

How it sings of separation...

Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next twelve years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi to Hussam. In December 1273, Rumi fell ill; he predicted his own death and composed the well-known ghazal, which begins with the verse:

How doest thou know what sort of king I have within me as companion?

Do not cast thy glance upon my golden face, for I have iron legs.

He died on December 17, 1273 in Konya; Rumi was laid to rest beside his father, and a splendid shrine, the Yeşil Türbe "Green Tomb" (original name:قبه لخزراء), was erected over his tomb. His epitaph reads:

"When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men."

Teachings of Rumi

A page of a copy circa 1503 of the "Diwan-e Shams-e Tabriz-i"

The general theme of his thoughts, like that of the other mystic and Sufi poets of the Persian literature, is essentially about the concept of Tawhīd (unity) and union with his beloved (the primal root) from which/whom he has been cut and fallen aloof, and his longing and desire for reunity.

The "Masnavi" weaves fables, scenes from everyday life, Qur’anic revelations and exegesis, and metaphysics, into a vast and intricate tapestry. Rumi is considered an example of "insan-e kamil" — the perfected or completed human being. In the East, it is said of him, that he was, "not a prophet — but surely, he has brought a scripture". Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry and dancing as a path for reaching God. For Rumi, music helped devotees to focus their whole being on the divine, and to do this so intensely that the soul was both destroyed and resurrected. It was from these ideas that the practice of Whirling Dervishes developed into a ritual form. He founded the order of the Mevlevi, the "whirling" dervishes, and created the "Sema", their "turning", sacred dance. In the Mevlevi tradition, Sema represents a mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect." In this journey the seeker symbolically turns towards the truth, grows through love, abandons the ego, finds the truth, and arrives at the "Perfect". The seeker then returns from this spiritual journey with greater maturity, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination against beliefs, races, classes and nations.

According to Shahram Shiva, one reason for Rumi's popularity is that "Rumi is able to verbalize the highly personal and often confusing world of personal/spiritual growth and mysticism in a very forward and direct fashion. He does not offend anyone, and he includes everyone. The world of Rumi is neither exclusively the world of a Sufi, nor the world of a Hindu, nor a Jew, nor a Christian; it is the highest state of a human being — a fully evolved human. A complete human is not bound by cultural limitations; he touches every one of us. Today Rumi's poems can be heard in churches, synagogues, Zen monasteries, as well as in the downtown New York art/performance/music scene." According to Professor Majid M. Naini [2], Rumi's life and transformation provide true testimony and proof that people of all religions and backgrounds can live together in peace and harmony. Rumi’s visions, words, and life teach us how to reach inner peace and happiness so we can finally stop the continual stream of hostility and hatred and achieve true global peace and harmony.

In other verses in Masnavi, Rumi describes in detail the universal message of love:

Love’s nationality is separate from all other religions,

The lover’s religion and nationality is the Beloved (God).

The lover’s cause is separate from all other causes

Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries.

Major works

Main articles: Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi and Masnavi

Rumi's poetry is often divided into various categories: the quatrains (rubayāt) and odes (ğazal) of the Divan, the six books of the Masnavi, the discourses, the letters, and the almost unknown Six Sermons.

Poetic Works

Maṭnawīye Ma'nawī
Mevlâna museum, Konya, Turkey

• Rumi's major work is Maṭnawīye Ma'nawī ("Spiritual Couplets"; Template:PerB - Maṣnawīye Ma'nawī), a six-volume poem regarded by some Sufis as the Persian Language Qur'an. It is considered by many to be one of the greatest works of mystical poetry.

• Rumi's other major work is the Dīwān-e Kabīr ("Great Work") or Dīwān-e Šams-e Tabrīzī ("The Works of Shams of Tabriz"; Template:PerB - named in honor of Rumi's great friend and inspiration, the dervish Shams), comprising some 40,000 verses. Several reasons have been offered for Rumi's decision to name his masterpiece after Shams. Some argue that since Rumi would not have been a poet without Shams, it is apt that the collection be named after him.

Prose Works

• Fihi Ma Fihi ("In It What's in It") provides a record of seventy-one talks and lectures given by Rumi on various occasions to his disciple. It was compiled from the notes of his various disciples, so Rumi did not author the work directly. The English translation from Persian was first provided by A.J. Arberry as Discourses of Rumi(New York: Samuel Weiser, 1972) and the second book by Wheeler Thackston, Sign of the Unseen(Putney, VT: Threshold Books, 1994).

• Majālese Sab'a ("Seven Sessions") contains seven Persian sermons (as the name implies) or lectures given in seven different assemblies. The sermons themselves gives a commentary on the deeper meaning of Quran and Hadeeth. The sermons include also quotations from poems of Sana'i, Attar and other poets, including Rumi himself. As Aflakī relates, after Šams-e Tabrīzī, Rumi gave sermons at the request of notables, especially Salāh al-Dīn Zarqūbī.

• Maktubāt ("The Letters") is the book containing Rumi's letter in Persian Language to his disciples, family members and the men of state and influence. The letters testify that Rumi kept very busy helping family members and administering a community of disciples that had gown up around them.

Philosophical outlook

Rumi was an evolutionary thinker in the sense that he believed that the spirit after devolution from the divine Ego undergoes an evolutionary process by which it comes nearer and nearer to the same divine Ego. All matter in the universe obeys this law and this is due to an inbuilt urge (which Rumi calls love) to evolve and seek enjoinment with the divinity from which it has emerged. Evolution into a human being from an animal is only a stage in this process. The doctrine of the Fall of Adam is reinterpreted as the devolution of the ego from the universal ground of divinity and is a universal cosmic phenomena. This synthesis of evolution and creationism combined was a culmination of the ideas of Plotinus and of previous Muslim philosophers like Al Farabi. The French philosopher Henri Bergson's idea of life being creative and evolutionary is also a little similar. Unlike Bergson, Rumi believes that there is a specific goal to this whole process which is the attainment of God. God is the ground as well as goal of all existence.

I died as a mineral and became a plant,

I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar
With angels blest; but even from angelhood
I must pass on: all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,
I shall become what no mind e'er conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence
Proclaims in organ tones,

'To Him we shall return.

Original Persian:

از جمادی مُردم و نامی شدم --- وز نما مُردم بحیوان سرزدم

مُردم از حیوانی و آدم شدم --- پس چه ترسم کی ز مردم کم شدم

حملهء دیگر بمیرم از بشر --- تا برآرم از ملایک بال و پر

وز ملک هم بایدم جستن ز جو --- کل شییء هالک الاوجهه

بار دیگر از ملک پران شوم --- آنچه اندر وهم ناید آن شوم

پس عدم گردم عدم چو ارغنون --- گویدم کانا الیه راجعون

Rumi's "universality"

It is often said that the teachings of Rumi are universal in nature. For him religion was mostly a personal experience and not confined to logical arguments and sense perceptions. Creative love, or the urge to rejoin the spirit to divinity, was the goal towards which every thing moves. The dignity of life, in particular human life (which is conscious of its divine origin and goal) was important.

I searched for God among the Christians and on the Cross and therein I found Him not.
I went into the ancient temples of idolatry; no trace of Him was there.
I entered the mountain cave of Hira and then went as far as Qandhar but God I found not.
With set purpose I fared to the summit of Mount Caucasus and found there only 'anqa's habitation.
Then I directed my search to the Kaaba, the resort of old and young; God was not there even.
Turning to philosophy I inquired about him from ibn Sina but found Him not within his range.
I fared then to the scene of the Prophet's experience of a great divine manifestation only a 'two bow-lengths' distance from him' but God was not there even in that exalted court.

Finally, I looked into my own heart and there I saw Him; He was nowhere else.

Legacy

Rumi's Universality

What can I do, Submitters to God? I do not know myself.

I am neither Christian nor Jew, neither Zoroastrian nor Muslim,

I am not from east or west, not from land or sea,

not from the shafts of nature nor from the spheres of the firmament,

not of the earth, not of water, not of air, not of fire.

I am not from the highest heaven, not from this world,

not from existence, not from being.

I am not from India, not from China, not from Bulgar, not from Saqsin,

not from the realm of the two Iraqs, not from the land of Khurasan

I am not from the world, not from beyond,

not from heaven and not from hell.

I am not from Adam, not from Eve, not from paradise and not from Ridwan.

My place is placeless, my trace is traceless,

no body, no soul, I am from the soul of souls.

I have chased out duality, lived the two worlds as one.

One I seek, one I know, one I see, one I call.

He is the first, he is the last, he is the outer, he is the inner.

Beyond "He" and "He is" I know no other.

I am drunk from the cup of love, the two worlds have escaped me.

I have no concern but carouse and rapture.

If one day in my life I spend a moment without you

from that hour and that time I would repent my life.

If one day I am given a moment in solitude with you

I will trample the two worlds underfoot and dance forever.

O Sun of Tabriz (Shams Tabrizi), I am so tipsy here in this world,

I have no tale to tell but tipsiness and rapture

Rumi's importance transcends national and ethnic borders. Speakers of the Persian languages in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan see him as one of their most significant classical poets and an influence on many poets through history. He has also had a great influence on Turkish literature throughout the centuries. His poetry forms the basis of much classical Iranian and Afghanistani music. Contemporary classical interpretations of his poetry are made by Muhammad Reza Shajarian (Iran), Shahram Nazeri (Iran), Davood Azad (Iran) and Ustad Mohammad Hashem Cheshti (Afghanistan). To many modern Westerners, his teachings are one of the best introductions to the philosophy and practice of Sufism. Pakistan's National Poet, Muhammad Iqbal (November 9, 1877-April 21, 1938) was also inspired by Rumi's works and considered him to be his spiritual leader and addressed him as Pir Rumi in his poems (the honorific Pir literally means old man, but in the sufi/mystic context it means founder, master, or guide).

Rumi's work has been translated into many of the world's languages including Russian, German, Urdu, Turkish, Arabic, French, Italian and Spanish, and is appearing in a growing number of formats including concerts, workshops, readings, dance performances and other artistic creations. The English interpretations of Rumi's poetry by Coleman Barks have sold more than a half million copies worldwide. Recordings of Rumi poems have made it to Billboard's Top 20 list. A collection of Deepak Chopra's editing the translations by Fereydoun Kia of Rumi's love poems, has been sung by Hollywood personalities such as Madonna, Goldie Hawn, Philip Glass and Demi Moore; also Shahram Shiva's CD, Rumi: Lovedrunk has been very popular on the Internet's music communities such as MySpace.com. Rumi is one of the most widely read poets in the United States.

Rumi and the Persian world

پارسی گو گرچه تازی خوشتر است - عشق را خود صد زبان دیگر است

Say all in Persian even if Arabic is better - Love will find its way through all languages on its own

Rumi's poetry reflects the rich Iranian culture and represents the literary environment of Khorasan, the medieval center of the Persian world.

These cultural, historical and linguistic ties between Rumi and the Iranian world have made Rumi an iconic Persian and Iranian poet. Rumi's poetry is displayed on the walls of many cities across the Persian-speaking world, sung in Persian music, and read in school books. Literally, Persian-speakers live with Rumi's poetry.

The Mawlawī Sufi Order

Main articles: Mevlevi and Sema

The Mawlawī Sufi order (Mawlawīyah or Mevlevi, as it is known in Turkey) was founded in 1273 by Rumi's followers after his death. His first successor in the rectorship of the order was Husam Chelebi himself, after whose death in 1284 Rumi's younger and only surviving son, Sultan Walad († 1312), favorably known as author of the mystical Maṭnawī Rabābnāma, or the "Book of the Guitar", was installed as grand master of the order. The leadership of the order has been kept in Rumi's family in Konya uninterruptedly since then. The Mawlawī Sufis, also known as "Whirling Dervishes", believe in performing their dhikr in the form of samāʿ. During the time of Rumi (as attested in the "Manākib ul-Ārefīn" of Aflākī), his followers gathered for musical and "turning" practices. Rumi himself was a notable musician who played the robāb although his favorite instrument was the ney. The music accompanying the traditional ritual consists of settings of poems from the Maṭnawī and Dīwān-e Kabīr or of Sultan Walad's poems. The Mawlawīyah was a well-established Sufi Order in the Ottoman Empire, and many of the members of the order served in various official positions of the Caliphate. The center for the Mawlawīyah was in Konya. There is also a Mawlawī monastery (Template:PerB - dargāh) in Istanbul, near the Galata Tower, where the samāʿ ceremony is performed and accessible to the public. The Mawlawī order issues an invitation to people of all backgrounds:

Come, come, whoever you are,
Wanderer, idolater, worshiper of fire,
Come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times,
Come, and come yet again.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.

Rumi's tomb in Konya, Turkey

During Ottoman times, the Mawlawīyah produced a number of notable poets and musicians such as Sheikh Ghalib, Ismail Rusuhi Dede of Ankara, Esrar Dede, Halet Efendi, and Gavsi Dede who are all buried at the Galata Mawlawī Ḫāna (Turkish: Mevlevi-Hane) in Istanbul. Music, especially the ney, play an important part in the Mawlawīyah and thus much of the traditional oriental music that Westerners associate with Turkey originates with the Mawlawī order.

With the foundation of the modern secular republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk removed religion from the sphere of public policy and restricted it exclusively to that of personal morals, behavior, and faith. On 13 December 1925, a law was passed closing all the tekkes (dervish lodges) and zāwīyas (chief dervish lodges) and also the centers of veneration to which pilgrimages (zīyārat) were made. Istanbul alone had more than 250 tekkes as well as small centers for the gatherings of various fraternities. This law dissolved the Orders, prohibited the use of mystical names, titles and costumes pertaining to these titles, impounded their assets, banned their ceremonies and meetings; the law also provided penalties for those who tried to re-establish them. Two years later, in 1927, the Mausoleum of Mevlana in Konya was allowed to reopen as a Museum.

In the 1950s, the Turkish government began allowing the Whirling Dervishes to perform annually in Konya on the Urs of Mawlānā, December 17, the anniversary of Rumi's death. In 1974, they were allowed to come to the West. The Mawlānā annual festival is held every year in Konya in December. It lasts two weeks and its culminating point is the 17th December called Šabe Arūz (meaning nuptial night in Persian), the night of the union of Rumi with God.

International Rumi Year

Upon a proposal by Ministry of Culture & Islamic Guidance of Iran & Culture and Tourism Ministry of Turkey the year 2007 was proposed as the "International Rumi Year" to UNESCO, but has not yet been confirmed. This is intended for the commemoration of Rumi's 800th birthday anniversary and will be celebrated all over the world. On this occasion Iranian musician Shahram Nazeri was awarded Légion d'honneur and Iran's House of Music Award for his renowned works on Rumi masterpieces. 2006 was declared as the "International Mozart Year" by UNESCO..

In honour of Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi, one of the great humanists, philosophers and poets who belong to humanity in its entirety, UNESCO issued a UNESCO Medal in his name in association with the 800th anniversary of his birth in 2007 in the hope that this medal will prove an encouragement to those who are engaged in a deep and scholarly dissemination of his ideas and ideals, which in turn would in fact enhance the diffusion of the ideals of UNESCO.

Rumi and orthodox Islam

The idea that Rumi cared little for orthodox Islam has been put forward by translations of poems attributed to him which were actually not composed by him. Some writers have even claimed or suggested that Rumi was not really a Muslim, because they believed that the line, "na tarsâ na yahûd-am man na gabr-am na musalmân-am" ("I am not a Christian, a Jew, a Zoroastrian, or a Muslim") expressed Rumi's true attitude toward Islam. However, this poem is not in the earliest manuscripts and probably is not a genuine Rumi poem. R. A. Nicholson first published a translation of this line in 1898, but he admitted that, "The original text does not occur in any of the editions or MSS used by me" (p. 281) Furthermore, the line can also be translated as "do not fear, I am not Jewish, not Zoroastrian, not Muslim", therefore again alluding to the main central theme of all Rumi's poetry, which is the enlightened being that has transcended beyond religions into the complete man.

Rumi's actual approach to Islam is clarified by the following quatrain composed by him:

I am the servant of the Qur'an as long as I have life. I am the dust on the path of Muhammad, the Chosen one. If anyone quotes anything except this from my sayings, I am quit of him and outraged by these words. man banda-yé qur'ân-am, agar jân dâr-am man khâk-é rah-é muHammad-e mukhtâr-am gar naql kon-ad joz în, kas az goftâr-am bêzâr-am az-ô, w-az-în sokhan bêzâr-am — Rumi's Quatrain No. 1173

In an article entitled "Rumi and the Sufi Tradition," professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr states:

One of the greatest living authorities on Rûmî in Persia today, Hâdî Hâ'irî, has shown in an unpublished work that some 6,000 verses of the Dîwân and the Mathnawî are practically direct translations of Qur'ânic verses into Persian poetry."

Rumi states in his Dî'wân:

The Sufi is hanging on to Muhammad, like Abu Bakr.

Make your intellect a sacrifice in the presence of Muhammad, and say, “God is sufficient for me, since God is enough for satisfying me.”

800th anniversary

File:Stamp from Afghanistan honoring Mawlana Jalaluddin Balkhi aka Rumi.jpg

A postage stamp honoring Rumi.

Mawlana Jalal-ud-Dine Balkhi-Rumi is one of the greatest spiritual masters and mystic poets of Islamic civilization. In Afghanistan, he is known as ‘Mawlana’, in Iran as ‘Mawlawi’ and in Turkey, he is known as ‘Mevlana’. To honour the greatness of Mawlana, his work, vision and philosophy that are in conformity with the objectives and mission of UNESCO “constructing in the minds of men the defences of peace”, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was associated with the celebration of Mawlana’s eight hundred years of birth in 2007, as proposed by the Permanent Delegations of Afghanistan, Egypt and Turkey and approved by the Executive Board and the General Conference of UNESCO.

The Afghan Ministry of Culture & Youth established a national committee who organized an international seminar to celebrate the birth and life of the great ethical philosopher and world’s renowned poet. This grand gathering of the world’s intellectuals, diplomats and followers of Maulana was held in Kabul and in Balkh.

The commemoration at UNESCO took place on September 6, 2007 to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the birth of Mawlana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi, one of the greatest poets, philosophers and scholars of the eastern civilization.

On September 30, 2007, Iranian school bells were rung throughout the country in honor of Mowlana.On the occasion of Rumi's birthday, Iran held Iran’s Rumi week from October 26 until November 2. An international ceremony and conference was held in Tehran, Iran. The event was opened by Iranian president and chairman of Iranian parliament. Scholars from 29 countries attended the events and 450 articles were presented in the conference.

On September 30, 2007, Turkey celebrated Rumi’s 800th birthday with a giant whirling dervish sama performance aired live in 8 countries using 48 cameras. Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey Ertugrul Gunay stated that: “300 dervishes are scheduled to take part in this ritual, making it the largest performance of sama in history.”

Farshchian & Molana

Iranian master miniaturist, Mahmud Farshchian has created a work entitled “Shams and Rumi”. The painting took two months to complete in the U.S. and was unveiled at the Farshchian Art and Cultural Complex in Isfahan on August 2, 2007. Farshchian’s work “Shams and Rumi,” has been inspired by one of Rumi’s poems. Special colors have been used in the painting to feature the mystical and spiritual relationship that existed between Shams and Rumi.

See also

Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm

• Seljuk Dynastic Empire

On Persian culture

• Persian people
• Tajiks
• List of Persian poets and authors
• Persian literature
• Persian philosophy
• Persian Mysticism

Spiritual Islam

• Sufism
• Nimatullahi

Other

• Sant Mat
• Mercan Dede
• Blind Men and an Elephant
• Monsters of Grace

Rumi experts

• Badiozzaman Forouzanfar
• Abdolhossein Zarinkoob
• William Chittick
• Shahram Shiva
• Majid M. Naini
• Abdolkarim Soroush
• Hossein Elahi Ghomshei
• Annemarie Schimmel
• Seyyed Hossein Nasr
• Dariush Shayegan
• François Pétis de la Croix
• Jalal Homaei
• Rahim Arbab

English translators of Rumi poetry

• Coleman Barks
• William Chittick
• Majid M. Naini
• Shahram Shiva
• James W. Redhouse
• Reynold A. Nicholson

Bibliography

English translations

• "MA-AARIF-E-MATHNAVI A commentary of the Mathnavi of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (R.A.)", by Hazrat Maulana Hakim Muhammad Akhtar Saheb (D.B.), 1997.
• The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, by William Chittick, Albany: SUNY Press, 1983.
• The Mysteries of the Universe and Rumi's Discoveries on the Majestic Path of Love, by Majid M. Naini, Universal Vision & Research, 2002 ISBN 0-9714600-0-0 www.naini.net
• The Mesnevi of Mevlānā Jelālu'd-dīn er-Rūmī. Book first, together with some account of the life and acts of the Author, of his ancestors, and of his descendants, illustrated by a selection of characteristic anecdotes, as collected by their historian, Mevlānā Shemsu'd-dīn Ahmed el-Eflākī el-'Arifī, translated and the poetry versified by James W. Redhouse, London: 1881. Contains the translation of the first book only.
• Masnaví-i Ma'naví, the Spiritual Couplets of Mauláná Jalálu'd-din Muhammad Rúmí, translated and abridged by E. H. Whinfield, London: 1887; 1989. Abridged version from the complete poem. On-line editions at sacred-texts.com and on wikisource.
• The Masnavī by Jalālu'd-din Rūmī. Book II, translated for the first time from the Persian into prose, with a Commentary, by C.E. Wilson, London: 1910.
• The Mathnawí of Jalálu'ddín Rúmí, edited from the oldest manuscripts available, with critical notes, translation and commentary by Reynold A. Nicholson, in 8 volumes, London: Messrs Luzac & Co., 1925–1940. Contains the text in Persian. First complete English translation of the Mathnawí.
• Rending The Veil: Literal and Poetic Translations of Rumi, translated by Shahram Shiva Hohm Press, 1995 ISBN 0-934252-46-7. Recipient of Benjamin Franklin Award.
• Hush, Don't Say Anything to God: Passionate Poems of Rumi, translated by Shahram Shiva Jain Publishing, 1999 ISBN 0-87573-084-1.
• The Essence Of Rumi's Masnevi (Including His Life and Works), from Prof. Dr. Erkan TÜRKMEN
• The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks with John Moyne, A. J. Arberry, Reynold Nicholson, San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1996 ISBN 0-06-250959-4; Edison (NJ) and New York: Castle Books, 1997 ISBN 0-7858-0871-X. Selections.
• The Illuminated Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, Michael Green contributor, New York: Broadway Books, 1997 ISBN 0-7679-0002-2.
• The Masnavi: Book One, translated by Jawid Mojaddedi, Oxford World's Classics Series, Oxford University Press, 2004 ISBN 0-19-280438-3. Translated for the first time from the Persian edition prepared by Mohammad Estelami with an introduction and explanatory notes. Awarded the 2004 Lois Roth Prize for excellence in translation of Persian literature by the American Institute of Iranian Studies.
• Divani Shamsi Tabriz translated by Nevit Oguz Ergin as Divan-i-kebir, published by Echo Publications, 2003 ISBN-10: 188799128X; ISBN-13: 978-1887991285.
• The Masnavi: Book Two, translated by Jawid Mojaddedi, Oxford World's Classics Series, Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-921259-0. The first ever verse translation of the unabridged text of Book Two, with an introduction and explanatory notes.

Further reading

On Rumi's life and work

• Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islamic Art and Spirituality, Albany: SUNY Press, 1987, chapters 7 and 8.
• William Chittick, The Sufi Doctrine of Rumi: Illustrated Edition, Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2005.
• Annemarie Schimmel, The Triumphal Sun: A Study of the Works of Jalaloddin Rumi, Albany: SUNY Press, 1993.
• Majid M. Naini, The Mysteries of the Universe and Rumi's Discoveries on the Majestic Path of Love, Universal Vision & Research, 2002, ISBN 0-9714600-0-0
• Franklin Lewis, Rumi Past and Present, East and West, Oneworld Publications, 2000. ISBN 1-85168-214-7
• Leslie Wines, Rumi: A Spiritual Biography, New York: Crossroads, 2001 ISBN 0-8245-2352-0.
• Rumi's Thoughts, edited by Seyed G Safavi, London: London Academy of Iranian Studies, 2003.
• Şefik Can, Fundamentals of Rumi's Thought: A Mevlevi Sufi Perspective, Sommerset (NJ): The Light Inc., 2004 ISBN 1-932099-79-4.

On Persian literature

• E.G. Browne, History of Persia, four volumes, 1998 ISBN 0-7007-0406-X. 2,256 pages, and twenty-five years in the writing.
• Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature, Reidel Publishing Company; 1968 OCLC 460598. ISBN 90-277-0143-1

External links

• Rumi Under the Weather
• Speaking of Faith: The Ecstatic Faith of Rumi, with Krista Tippet, American Public Media, December 13, 2007:
  — Pragram's Main Page
  — Program Particulars
  — Listen Now (RealAudio, 53 min)
  — Download (mp3, 53 min)
  — Video Performance: The Musicality of Rumi
• A mystic chant from Rumi's Masnavi sung by Shusha Guppy in the 1970s: Masnavi.
• BBC News.

On-line texts & translations of Rumi

• "MA-AARIF-E-MATHNAVI A commentary of the Mathnavi of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (R.A.)", by Hazrat Maulana Hakim Muhammad Akhtar Saheb (D.B.), 1997.
• Four new translations of Rumi poems by Coleman Barks
• Rumi poetry set to beautiful Persian Music on Mp3 and CD
• The Masnavi I Ma'navi, by Maulana Jalalu-'d-din Muhammad Rumi, Abridged and Translated by E.H. Whinfield on sacred-texts.com
• Dar al Masnavi, several English versions of selections by different translators.
• (Rumi.net) Rumi's little-known biography and poems (Quatrains and Odes) in English by Shahram Shiva
• [3]
• [4]
• Quatrains at Iranian.com

On Rumi

• The Rubaiyat of Rumi Lecture of Khosro Naghed.
• Rumi, Poet of Love and Justice, CHN News
• Jalaluddin Rumi
• About Rumi, English translations and personal/rare biography
• Several Rumi Poems (Quatrains and Odes) in English
• Iranian studies site
• The Threshold Society and Mevlevi Order
• The Mevlevi Order of America. [This organization and the one above are unaffiliated with each other]
• Official website of the Family of Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi
• Mevlana
• Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi- Mevlevi webpage
• RumiOnFire.com - A Tribute to Rumi
• Rumi, Jalal al-Din, a biography by Professor Iraj Bashiri, University of Minnesota.
• What goes round... - The Guardian, November 5, 2000
• Rumi Lectures at Harvard University
• Rumi and the Tradition of Sufi Poetry
• Rumi and Islamic Spirituality
• Rumi and Self Discovery
• Mewlana Jelal Ad-Din Rumi
• Treasures of Persian Literature, by Professor Behrouz Homayoun Far
• Sadeq Dehqan. UNESCO designates 2007 "Year of Molana", Iran Daily, April 8, 2006.
• Ashkhabad to host Molana conference
• Guernica Magazine (guernicamag.com) on the 800th anniversary of Rumi's birth
• Can Rumi Save Us Now?