New age: Details about 'Jalal Al Din Muhammad Rumi'
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Molana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi or Celâladin Mehmet Rumi Transliteration of Arabic script into English varies. One common transliteration is Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi. The usual brief reference to him is simply Rumi. (Persian: مولانا جلال الدين محمد بلخى , Arabic: جلال الدين محمد رومي) (September 30, 1207 – December 17, 1273 CE) (also known as Molana, Molavi, Mawlvi, Mawlana, meaning our guide or our master in Arabic and Persian, or Mevlana meaning our guide in Turkish) was a Persian Sufi poet, jurist, theologian and teacher of Sufism. In his poetry he used the pen-name "khamush" (meaning "silent".) He was born in Balkh (then a city of the Greater Khorasan province of Persia, now part of Afghanistan) and died in Konya (in present-day Turkey). The name Rumi means "from Roman Anatolia." He was not known by that name until after his family, fleeing the threat of invading Mongol armies, emigrated to Konya, Turkey. His birth place and native tongue point towards a Persian heritage. He also wrote his poetry in Persian and his works are widely read in Iran and Afghanistan where the language is spoken. He lived most of his life and produced his works under the Seljuk Empire and his descendants today are Turkish citizens and live in modern day Turkey. He is adored to such a degree that citizens of Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India sometimes consider him one of their own.
LifeWhen the Mongols invaded Central Asia, some time between 1215 and 1220, his father (Bahauddin Walad, a theologian, jurist and a mystic of uncertain lineage) set out westwards with his whole family and a group of disciples. On the road to Anatolia he met one of the most famous mystic Persian poets Attar in the city of Neishapour, located in the Iranian province of Khorasan. 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 Asranama, a book about the entanglement of the soul in the material world. This meeting had a deep impact on Rumi's thoughts, which later on his works became the inspiration of Rumi. Rumi was 18 years old at that time. From Nayshapur Walad and his entourage set out for Baghdad, meeting many of the scholars and Sufis of the city. From there they went to the Hejaz and performed the pilgrimage at Mecca. It was after this journey that most likely as a result of the invitation of Alauddin Kayqubad, the ruler of Anatolia, Bahauddin came to Asia Minor and finally settled in Konya in Anatolia within the westernmost territories of Seljuk Empire. Bahauddin became the head of a madrassa (religious school) and when he died Rumi succeeded him at the age of 25. Bahauddin's Maarif, a collection of notes, diarylike remarks, sermons and strange accounts of visionary experiences, has shocked most of the conventional scholars who have tried to understand them. He shows a startlingly sensual freedom in stating his union with God. He was trained in the religious and mystical doctrines of his father by a former student Syed Burhanuddin Mahaqqiq. For nine years Rumi practiced Sufism as a disciple of Burhanuddin until the latter died in 1240-1. 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 Tabriz in the late fall of 1244 that changed his life completely. The 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 Jelaluddin 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, Allaedin; if so, Shams indeed gave his head for the privilege of mystical friendship. His love and his bereavement for the death of Shams found their expression in a surge of music, dance and lyric poems, Divani Shamsi Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus. There, he realized:
Rumi found another companion in Saladin Zarkub, the goldsmith. After Saladin's death, Rumi's scribe and favorite student Husam Chelebi assumed the role. One day, the two of them were wandering through the Meram vineyards outside of Konya when Husam described an idea he had to Rumi: "If you were to write a book like the Ilahiname of Sanai or the Mantik'ut-Tayr'i of Attar it would become the companion of many troubadours. They would fill their hearts form you 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 Mathnawi, beginning with:
Husam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next twelve years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this master-work, the Mathnawi to Husam. In December 1273, Rumi fell ill. He predicted his own death and composed the well-known ghazal, which begins with the verse:
He died on December 17, 1273 in Konya which was a city under the jurisdiction of the Seljuk Turks; Rumi was laid to rest beside his father, and a splendid shrine was erected over his tomb. His tomb is located in Konya, Turkey. His epitaph reads:
He played a big role in the history of converting Orthodox Anatolia (Asia-minor) to Islam. Teachings of RumiThe general theme of his thoughts, like that of the other mystic and Sufi poets of the Persian literature, is essentially about the concept of Tawheed (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.
Major worksRumi's poetry is often divided into various categories: the quatrains (rubaiyat) and odes (ghazals) of the Divan, the six books of the Mathnawi, the discourses, the letters, and the almost unknown Six Sermons. Rumi's major work is Masnavi-ye Manavi (Spiritual Couplets), a six-volume poem regarded by many Sufis as second in importance only to the Qur'an. In fact, the Masnawi is often called the "Qur'an-e Farsi" (The Persian Qur'an). It is considered by many to be one of the greatest works of mystical poetry. Rumi's other major work is the Diwan-e Shams-e Tabriz-i (The Works of Shams of Tabriz - named in honor of Rumi's great friend and inspiration, the darvish Shams), comprising some 40,000 verses. Both works are among the most significant in all of Persian literature. It is believed by some that Shams was murdered by disciples of Rumi who were jealous of his relationship with Shams (also spelt Shems). Fihi Ma Fih (In It What's in It) is composed of Rumi's speeches on different subjects. Rumi himself did not prepare or write these discourses. They were recorded by his son Sultan Valad or some other disciple of Rumi and put together as a book. The title may mean "what's in the Mathnawi is in this too." Some of the discourses are addressed to Muin al-Din Parvane. Some portions of it are commentary on Masnavi. Majalis-i Sab'a (seven sessions) contains seven sermons (as the name implies) given in seven different assemblies. As Aflaki relates, after Sham-i Tabrizi, Rumi gave sermons at the request of notables, especially Salah al-Din Zarqubi. InfluenceRumi's importance transcends national and ethnic borders. Speakers of the Persian language in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan see him as one of their most significant classical poets and an influence to 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 Afghan 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 (pir literally means old, but in sufi/mystic context, it means guide, teacher, master, guru.) Coleman Barks's translations of Rumi have sold more than a 250,000 copies in the United States. Recordings of Rumi poems have made it to Billboard's Top 20 list. A collection of Deepak Chopra's translations of Rumi's love poems has been sung by Hollywood stars. The 13th-century Persian is the top-selling poet in the United States. ReferencesOn Rumi's life and work
On Persian literature
See alsoTurkish Seljuk Empire
On Persian culture
Spiritual IslamRumi experts
Translators of Rumi poetryEnglish translations
On Rumi
Mevlana Dželaludin Rumi Руми Jalal ad-Din Rumi Dschalal ad-Din Rumi Ĝalal-ed-din MOHAMMAD RUMI مولوی Djalal el Din Rûmi Jalal ad-Din Rumi Rumi Руми, Джалаледдин Djalalu'd-Din Rumi مولانا جلالالدین محمد بلخی رومی
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