Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207 – 1273) was a Sufi mystic and Persian poet. His mystical poetry has a universal appeal, which has made him one of the most celebrated poets of the modern age. (See also the Wikipedia Article about Rumi.)

Biography

Quoted from:  Pettinger, Tejvan. “Biography of Rumi”, Oxford, UK www.biographyonline.net 

Rumi was born in 1207 in Wakhsh (present-day Tajikistan), in what is now Afghanistan. He frequently travelled throughout his life, due to the political turmoils of his era. After the Mongol invasion of Central Asia around 1215, Rumi’s family moved steadily westward. They visited Baghdad (in modern-day Iraq), Persia (modern-day Iran) and made a pilgrimage to Mecca. The family finally settled in Konya (modern-day Turkey)

Rumi was brought up in the Islamic faith and became well acquainted with the Quran. Rumi became a celebrated scholar. At the age of 25, Rumi took up a position as an Islamic teacher in a madras in Konya. Although following the Sufi path, he became an Islamic jurist and gave sermons in the mosques of Konya.

However, his life changed when he met the wandering Sufi mystic Sham al-Din in 1244. This meeting had a profound impact on Rumi, he felt Sham to be a divinely inspired person, and he took him to be his Guru. Under the guidance of Shams, Rumi lost interest in the more cerebral academic studies and became enamoured of the way of the mystic – the path of the heart. Rumi became an ascetic and devoted to the unorthodox spiritual path.

Only four years after meeting Shams, Shams disappeared (rumours suggested he was murdered with the connivance of Rumi’s son, jealous of his father’s devotion to Shams). Rumi’s grief led to some of his greatest poetry in the Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi.

This spiritual devotion manifested itself in Rumi’s ecstatic mystical poetry. In particular, Rumi captured the divine romance of lover and beloved – the perpetual yearning for the Divine.

Through his poetry, Rumi expressed his philosophy which included tolerance of all religious beliefs, the importance of goodness and charity, the belief in reincarnation and the soul’s evolution. Rumi also hinted at the limitations of conventional morality and religion – suggesting that the way of the heart transcended religious doctrines. Above all, he advocated the importance of love. Rumi passionately believed in the capacity of poetry, music and dance as a path to union with God.

Rumi’s poetry contained lines based on the Quran, but he explored themes beyond the narrow boundaries of religion. People see in his poetry a glimpse of the Divine and the universal quest of love. This transcendental quality of Rumi’s poetry has given him universal appeal. Even during his lifetime, he acquired followers from various religious backgrounds.

Rumi died on 17 December 1273 in Konya. The epitaph on the place of his burial states:

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

At his funeral, which lasted over a month, he was visited by Muslims, Jews, Persians, Christians and Greeks.

Rumi’s teachings and poetry formed a basis for the practice of the Whirling Dervishes and the path of the Mevlevi tradition of Sufism. Rumi’s faith was born from the Islamic religion. He makes frequent reference to the Quran. However, Rumi was never limited to scriptural interpretations of religious doctrine. He taught and exemplified the fact that the essential aspect of religion is an individual seeking and personal experience of the divine. According to E. Brown, Rumi was a Sunni Muslim, but offered an interpretation of Islam that was mystical and universal.

Here are a few of his poems: