Maulana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

 

Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, popularly known as Rumi in the West, was a 13th century Sufi mystic and famous Persian poet whose compositions have transcended all barriers. Born on September 30, 1207 in Balkh (modern-day Afghanistan) and he was died on December 17, 1273 in Konya, Turkey. He lived the rest of his adulthood life in modern-day Turkey, which was known at the time as Rumi and thus the nisba Rumi. He received a rigorous education in Islamic scriptures at his father's madrassa before being named a Molvi at the age of 25, swiftly gaining a big following in sophisticated Konya.

Fariduddin Attar, a poet and teacher, recognized Rumi as a wonderful spirit when he was a teenager and handed him a copy of his own Ilahinama (The Book of God). Rumi assumed leadership of the madrasah, or religious learning community, after the death of his father in 1231.

147 of Rumi's personal writings were saved by his son, Sultan Velad, and they provide details about the poet's life and character. Rumi frequently became engaged in the affairs of his neighbors, resolving conflicts and arranging loans for students and aristocrats. Poetic lines are said to be sprinkled among the letters.

Shams Tabriz, who had sworn an oath of poverty, was one of the people Rumi visited in 1244. Rumi believed his actual poetry started when he met Shams, and their encounter is regarded as a pivotal moment in his life. Over the course of four years, they were good friends. Shams was often chased away by Rumi's envious pupils during that time, including one of Rumi's sons, Ala al-Din. Shams vanished once more in December 1248; it's assumed that he was either murdered or driven away. Rumi left the madrasah and went to Damascus and other places in quest of his companion. Rumi eventually accepted his loss and went back to his house.

Rumi's grief over the death of his close friend resulted in the production of more than 40,000 lyrical verses, which included odes, eulogies, quatrains, and other forms of Eastern-Islamic poetry. Rumi's work is considered to be among the greatest examples of this genre. The compilation that came out of it, known as Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi or The Works of Shams Tabriz, is widely regarded as one of Rumi's finest achievements as a poet and as one of the most important literary works to come out of Persian literature.

Coleman Barks writes in the preface to his translation of the Shams by Rumi, "Rumi is one of the great souls, and one of the great spiritual teachers. He shows us our glory. He wants us to be more alive, to wake up. He wants us to recognize our beauty, in the mirror and in each other."

During his last twelve years, he began in 1262, to write down a single six-volume poem that he had written when he told his scribe, Husam Chelebi.  The sixty-four thousand lines Masnavi-ye Ma'navi (Spiritual Verses), the resulting magnum opus, is regarded as Rumi's most intimate work of spiritual instruction. The Masnavi, which some Sufis now consider to be the Persian-language Koran, was referred to as "the roots of the roots of the roots of the (Islamic) Religion" by Rumi.

On the 17th of December 1273 C.E., Rumi fell sick and passed away   in Turkey's Konya. The Yeşil Türbe (Green Tomb) was built over their final resting place, and his remains were buried next to his father's. The structure once comprised a mosque, a dance hall, and dervish quarters; it is now the Mevlana Museum. Each month, thousands of people of all religions pay tribute to the poet with legendary spiritual insight by visiting his tomb.

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