also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (جلالالدین محمد بلخى), Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlânâ, Mevlevî (مولوی Mawlawī, "my master"), and more popularly simply as Rūmī (1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century Persianpoet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic.Rumi's influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Tajiks, Turkish, Greeks, Pashtuns, other Central Asian Muslims, and the Muslims of South Asia have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries.
His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the "most popular poet"and the "best selling poet" in the United States.Rumi's works are written mostly in Persian, but occasionally he also used Greek,Arabic, and Turkish in his verse.His Mathnawī, composed in Konya, remains one of the purest literary glories of the Persian language.His works are widely read today in their original language across Greater Iran and the Persian-speaking world.Translations of his works are very popular, most notably in Turkey, Azerbaijan, the United States, and South Asia.His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali.
WHO IS RUMI ?
His full name is "Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī" (Persian: جلالالدین محمد بلخى Persian pronunciation: [dʒælɒːlæddiːn mohæmmæde bælxiː]) or "Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī" (جلالالدین محمد رومی Persian pronunciation: [dʒælɒːlæddiːn mohæmmæde ɾuːmiː]). He is widely known by the sobriquet Mawlānā/Molānā.(Persian: مولانا Persian pronunciation: [moulɒːnɒː]) in Iran and popularly known as Mevlânâ in Turkey, but also Turkish: Celâleddin Muhammed Belhi, Celâleddin Muhammed Rûmi, and Mevlevi in Modern Turkish. Mawlānā means "our master" in the Arabic language. According to the authoritative Rumi biographer Franklin Lewis of the University of Chicago, "[t]he Anatolian peninsula which had belonged to the Byzantine, or eastern Roman empire, had only relatively recently been conquered by Muslims and even when it came to be controlled by Turkish Muslim rulers, it was still known to Arabs, Persians and Turks as the geographical area of Rum. As such, there are a number of historical personages born in or associated with Anatolia known as Rumi, a word borrowed from Arabic literally meaning 'Roman,' in which context Roman refers to subjects of the Byzantine Empire or simply to people living in or things associated with Anatolia."The terms مولوی Mawlawi (Persian) and Mevlevi (Turkish) which mean "my master" in Arabic are more often used for him.Rumi was born to native Persian-speaking parents.originally from the Balkh city of Khorasan, in present-day Afghanistan. He was born either in Wakhsh,.a village located on the Vakhsh River in the greater Balkh region in present-day Tajikistan,.or in the city of Balkh, located in present-day Afghanistan.Greater Balkh was at that time a major centre of Persian culture.and Sufism had developed there for several centuries. Indeed, the most important influences upon Rumi, besides his father, are said to be the Persian poets Attar and Sanai.Rumi in one poem express his appreciation: "Attar was the spirit, Sanai his eyes twain, And in time thereafter, Came we in their train".and mentions in another poem: "Attar has traversed the seven cities of Love, We are still at the turn of one street". His father was also connected to the spiritual lineage of Najm al-Din Kubra.
He lived most of his life under the Persianate. Seljuq Sultanate of Rum, where he produced his works.and died in 1273 AD. 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 Mevlevi Order, also known as the Order of the Whirling Dervishes, famous for its Sufi dance known as the Sama ceremony. He was laid to rest beside his father, and over his remains a splendid shrine was erected. A hagiographical account of him is described in Shams ud-Din Ahmad Aflāki's Manāqib ul-Ārifīn (written between 1318 and 1353). This hagiographical account of his biography needs to be treated with care as it contains both legends and facts about Rumi.
"Rumi’s
poetry is divided into various categories: the quatrains (rubayat) and
odes (ghazal) of the Divan, and the six books of the Masnavi. The prose
works are divided into the Discourses, the Letters, and the Seven
Sermons. Rumi's works were recorded, collected and compiled during his lifetime and after his death, by his son, friends and students; particularly his much-loved last disciple, Husamuddin Chelebi to whom Rumi had dedicated his magnum opus, Masnavi, as Husami Namah or the Book of Husam.
Rumi’s poetry and prose writings have a spiritual content that is the universal language of the human soul. They speak of the spiritual journey of Man’s ascent through the mind and soul toward Perfection (God). Love, compassion, tolerance, respect for, openness to, acceptance of the other in their otherness; and interfaith dialogue are fundamentals of Rumi's thought and practice.
The general
theme of Rumi's thought, like that of other mystic and Sufi poets of
Persian literature, is essentially that of the Sufi concept of Towheed
– توحید - Ultimate mystical union of a Sufi mystic lover with Beloved
(God) – from Whom he or she has been cut off and become aloof – thus
the lifelong longing and desire of the seeker to annihilate Self and
become One with the One and Only (God).
It is often said that the teachings of Rumi are ecumenical in nature. For
Rumi, religion was mostly a personal experience and not limited to
logical and dogmatic arguments or perceptions of the senses. Rumi
believes that creative love, or the urge to rejoin the spirit to
divinity, is the ultimate goal towards which a believer moves.
The main theme and message of Rumi's thoughts and teachings is the Love of God and His creatures.
The focus of Rumi's philosophy is humanity and his objective is to
achieve and to help others reach the state of perfect human being. Rumi
founded the Mevlevi Sufi mystic order, commonly known as the "Whirling
Dervishes" and created the Sema rite, a ritualistic sacred dance to
symbolically seek the divine truth and maturity. Rumi's
message and teachings continue to inspire people from all religions and
cultures today and show us how to live together in peace and harmony.
The world of Rumi is not exclusive, but is rather the highest state of a human being - namely, a fully evolved human. Rumi
offends no one and includes everyone, as a perfect human being who is
in search of love, truth and the unity of the human soul. Rumi's
very broad appeal, highly advanced thinking, humanism and open heart and
mind may derive from his genuinely cosmopolitan character, as during
his lifetime he enjoyed exceptionally good relations with people of
diverse social, cultural and religious backgrounds. Rumi was familiar
with the core message of all of them and therefore was appreciated by
believers of many religions.
Selected Poems from Divani Shamsi Tabriz
Edited and Translated by R. A. Nicholson
First published in 1898
This is Love: to fly heavenward,
To rend, every instant, a hundred veils.
The first moment, to renounce life ;
The last step, to fare without feet.
To regard this world as invisible,
Not to see what appears to one's self.
'O heart,' I said, c may it bless thee
To have entered the circle of lovers,
To look beyond the range of the eye,
To penetrate the windings of the bosom!
Whence did this breath come to thee, O my soul,
Whence this throbbing, O my heart?
O bird, speak the language of birds :
I call understand thy hidden meaning.'
The soul answered: 'I was in the (divine) Factory
While the house of water and clay was a-baking.
I was flying away from the (material) workshop
While the workshop was being created.
When I could resist no more, they dragged me
To mould me into shape like a ball.'
Ghazal/Ode # 35 from Divan Shams -trans. by R.A. Nicholson
The man of God is drunken without wine,
The man of God is full without meat.
The man of God is distraught and bewildered,
The man of God has no food or sleep.
The man of God is a king 'neath darvish-cloak,
The man of God is a treasure in a ruin.
The man of God is not of air and earth,
The man of God is not of fire and water.
The man of God is a boundless sea,
The man of God rains pearls without a cloud.
The man of God hath hundred moons and skies,
The man of God hath hundred suns.
The man of God is made wise by the Truth,
The man of God is not learned from book.
The man of God is beyond infidelity and religion,
To the man of God right and wrong are alike.
The man of God has ridden away from Not-being,
The man of God is gloriously attended.
The man of God is concealed, Shamsi Din ;
The man of God do thou seek and find!
Ghazal/Ode # 8 from Divan Shams -trans. 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.
The colors of the grove and the voice of the birds will bestow immortality
At the time when we come into the garden, thou and I.
The stars of heaven will come to gaze upon us ;
We shall show them the moon itself, thou and I.
Thou and I, individuals no more, shall be mingled in ecstasy ,
Joyful, and secure from foolish babble, thou and I.
All the bright-plumed birds of heaven will devour their hearts with envy
In the place where we shall laugh in such a fashion, thou and I.
This is the greatest wonder, that thou and I, sitting here in the same nook,
Are at this moment both in 'Iraq and Khorasan, thou and I.
Ghazal/Ode # 38 from Divan Shams- trans. by R.A. Nicholson
Selected translations into English Verse' by A.J. Arberry, 1949
Thou shalt not see me here, Master, with slumbering eyes,
Nor in another year shalt view me otherwise.
Momently as I lie look upon me, O night;
Me thou shalt ne'er descry save in the dawning light.
Within thy soul a soul doth dwell:
Go, seek it well!
Within thy mountain is mine:
Get it for thine.
The Sufi seek as he doth go,
If thou canst so;
Search not for him thy self apart,
but search thy heart.
Soul of the world! The soul,
The world - these things do not endure;
Only the ancient love and pure,
Idol and saki, this abideth whole.
About the shrine of naught
The lover if he will process,
Go, find him in his nothingness;
Not in the infinite skies may he be sought.
Time bringeth swift to end
The rout men keep;
Death's wolf is nigh to rend
These silly sheep.
See, how in pride they go
With lifted head,
Till Fate with a sudden blow
Smiteth them dead.
Thou who lovest, life a crow,
Winter's chill and winter's snow,
Ever exiled from the vale's
Roses red, and nightingales:
Take this moment to thy heart!
When the moment shall depart,
Long thou 'lt seek it as it flies
With a hundred lamps and eyes.
The heavenly rider passed;
The dust rose in the air;
He sped; but the dust he cast
Yet hangeth there.
Straight forward thy vision be,
And gaze not left or night;
His dust is here, and he
In the Infinite.
Who was he that said
The immortal spirit is dead,
Or how dared he say
Hope's sun hath passed away?
An enemy of the sun,
Standing his roof upon,
Bound up both his eyes
And cried: 'Lo, the sun dies!'
'Who lifteth up the spirit,
Say, who is he?'
'Who gave in the beginning
This life to me.
Who hoodeth, life a falcon's,
Awhile mine eyes,
But presently shall loose me
To hunt my prize.'
As salt resolved in the ocean
I was swallowed in God's sea,
Past faith, past unbelieving,
Past doubt, past certainty.
Suddenly in my bosom
A star shone clear and bright;
All the suns of heaven
Vanished in that star's light.
Flowers every night
Blossom in the sky;
Peace in the Infinite;
At peace am I.
Sighs a hundredfold
From my heart arise;
My heart, dark and cold,
Flames with my sighs.
He that is my souls' repose
Round my heart encircling goes,
Round my heart and soul of bliss
He encircling is.
Laughing from my earthy bed
Like a tree I lift my head,
For the Fount of Living mirth
Washes round my earth.
The breeze of the morn
Scatters musk in its train,
Fragrance borne
From my fair love's lane.
Ere the world wastes,
Sleep no more: arise!
The caravan hastes,
The sweet scent dies.
If life be gone, fresh life to you
God offereth,
A life eternal to renew
This life of death.
The Fount of Immorality
In Love is found;
The come, and in this boundless sea
Of Love be drowned.
Happy was I
In the pearl's heart to lie;
Till, lashed by life's hurricane,
Life a tossed wave I ran.
The secret of the sea
I uttered thunderously;
Like a spent cloud on the shore
I slept, and stirred no more.
He set the world aflame,
And laid me on the same;
A hundred tongues of fire
Lapped round my pyre.
And when the blazing tide
Engulfed me, and I sighed,
Upon my mouth in haste
His hand He placed.
Though every way I try
His whim to satisfy,
His every answering word
Is a pointed sword.
See how the blood drips
From His finger-tips;
Why does He find it good
To wash in my blood?
Remembering Thy lip,
The ruby red I kiss;
Having not that to sip,
My lips press this.
Not to Thy far sky
Reaches my stretched hand,
Wherefore kneeling, I
Embrace the land.
I sought a soul in the sea
And found a coral there;
Beneath the foam for me
An ocean was all laid bare.
Into my heart's night
Along a narrow way
I groped; and lo! the light,
An infinite land of day.
I am a heavenly bird
from the garden of paradise
I'm not from this dusty earth.
My body's being trapped
inside this worldly cage
for just a few days.
The happiest day of my life
is when I fly away
towards my Friend
flapping my wings faster
to reach His heavenly abode...
Come again, come again,
Whoever you are, come.
Infidel, Idol-Worshiper,
Or Fire-Worshiper,
It doesn't matter, come.
Our Dargah (Sufi Shrine)
Is not a doorway of despair.
Every prophet and saint
has a path
but it all leads to One God.
All paths are the same. Come even if you have
Broken your vows
A hundred times over.
Come, come again, come.
Make peace with the universe.
Take joy in it.
It will turn to gold.
Resurrection will be now.
Every moment, a new beauty.
Human beings are mines.
World power means nothing.
Only the unsayable,
Jeweled inner life matters.
Don’t ask what love can make
Or can do.
Look at the colors of the world.
Go and wash off all hatred
from your heart
seven times with water of
tolerance.
Then you can become
our companion
drinking from our
wine of love.
Let the beauty we love
be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways
to kneel and kiss the ground.
We were all born by accident,
but still this wandering caravan
will make camp in perfection.
Forget the nonsense categories
of there and here,
race, nation, religion,
starting-point and destination.
You are soul and you are love,
not a spirit or an angel
or a human being!
This is me:
Sometimes hidden
and sometimes revealed.
Sometimes a devoted Muslim
and sometimes
a Christian or a Jew.
For me to fit inside
everyone's heart,
I put on a new face everyday.
In the path of seeking,
wise and fool are the same.
In the faith of love,
known and unknown are the same.
For the lover intoxicated
by the wine of union with Beloved,
in his or her faith,
Muslims' Kaaba and Hindus'
Temple of Idols are the same.
Be silent
for your tongue is
the enemy of your soul.
In silence there is eloquence.
Stop weaving and see
how the pattern improves.
Let silence take you
to the core of life.
There is a voice that
doesn't use words.
Listen!
I asked God, my Beloved:
My heart is so small,
it’s almost invisible.
How can You place such
big sorrows in it?
“Look,” God answered,
"Your eyes are even smaller,
yet they behold the world."
Remember God so much
that you are forgotten.
Let the caller and
the called disappear
be lost in the call.
Each moment contains
a hundred messages from God.
To every cry of "Oh Lord",
God answers a hundred times:
"I Am Right Here."
The fragrance, my friends,
that floats to you this moment
streams from the tent
of the Secrets of God.
We search this whole world
for the great untying
of what was wed to us at birth,
but it gets untied at dying.
We sleep beside a stream, thirsty.
We wander from room to room
hunting for the diamond necklace
that is already around our neck.
We have a channel into the ocean,
yet we ask for water from a little pool.
Sloshing knee-deep in fresh river-water,
yet we keep wanting a drink
from other people's water-bags.
There's a basket of fresh bread on our head,
yet we go door to door asking for crusts.
There is a fountain flowing deep inside of us,
yet we walk around with an empty bucket.
Riding on our horses,
we go from village to village
asking: Has anyone seen my horse?
We search for Beloved here and there
while looking right at Him.
Sitting by His side we ask:
O Beloved, where is the Beloved?
We sit here for days wondering,
this life is strange business.
No, we are the strange business!
We have the energy of sun in us,
but we keep knotting it up
at the base of our spines.
We're some weird kind of gold
that wants to stay melted in the furnace,
so we won't have to become coins.
Cursing and unhappy our whole lives,
we finish up in a niche of ruins,
inches away from the treasures.
Cut your chains, my friends,
and release all your pain.
Silverwares and golden robes,
you must always refrain.
How long will you beg and bargain
for material things of this world
while Love is waiting?
How long before you rise above
your ego-driven pursuit of: How do I look or how much can I make?
If you try to fit the ocean in a jug,
how small will be your drinking mug?
Never filled you overambitious boys
and the ever so greedy girls,
only when fully satisfied,
oyster makes pearls.
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