46 Facts About Rumi

Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, or simply Rumi, was a 13th-century Persian poet, Hanafi faqih, Islamic scholar, Maturidi theologian, and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire.

Rumi's works were written mostly in Persian, but occasionally he used Turkish, Arabic and Greek in his verse.

Rumi's Masnavi, composed in Konya, is considered one of the greatest poems of the Persian language.

Rumi's influence has transcended national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Afghans, Tajiks, Turks, Kurds, Greeks, Central Asian Muslims, as well as Muslims of the Indian subcontinent have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries.

Rumi's poetry influenced not only Persian literature, but the literary traditions of the Ottoman Turkish, Chagatai, Pashto, Kurdish, Urdu, and Bengali languages.

Rumi's works are widely read today in their original language across Greater Iran and the Persian-speaking world.

Rumi's poems have subsequently been translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats.

Rumi is more commonly known as Molana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi.

Balkhi and Rumi are his nisbas, meaning, respectively, "from Balkh" and "from Rum", as he was from the Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia.

Rumi was born to Persian parents, in Balkh, modern-day Afghanistan or Wakhsh, a village on the East bank of the Wakhsh River known as Sangtuda in present-day Tajikistan.

Rumi lived and worked there until 1212, when Rumi was aged around five and the family moved to Samarkand.

Rumi expresses 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".

Rumi's father was connected to the spiritual lineage of Najm al-Din Kubra.

Rumi lived most of his life under the Persianate Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, where he produced his works and died in 1273AD.

Rumi was buried in Konya, and his shrine became a place of pilgrimage.

Rumi was laid to rest beside his father, and over his remains a shrine was erected.

For example, Professor Franklin Lewis of the University of Chicago, author of the most complete biography on Rumi, has separate sections for the hagiographical biography of Rumi and the actual biography about him.

Rumi's father was Baha ud-Din Walad, a theologian, jurist and a mystic from Wakhsh, who was known by the followers of Rumi as Sultan al-Ulama or "Sultan of the Scholars".

When his wife died, Rumi married again and had a son, Amir Alim Chalabi, and a daughter, Malakeh Khatun.

For nine years, Rumi practised Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240 or 1241.

Rumi served as a Molvi and taught his adherents in the madrassa.

From an accomplished teacher and jurist, Rumi was transformed into an ascetic.

For more than a month, Rumi refused to believe the rumors of Shams's death and waited for his return.

Rumi himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.

Rumi found another companion in Salah ud-Din-e Zarkub, a goldsmith.

Rumi spent the next twelve years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.

Rumi's death was mourned by the diverse community of Konya, with local Christians and Jews joining the crowd that converged to bid farewell as his body was carried through the city.

Rumi's body was interred beside that of his father, and a splendid shrine, the "Green Tomb", was erected over his place of burial.

Rumi was the one who sponsored the construction of his tomb in Konya.

Rumi's longing and desire to attain this ideal is evident in the following poem from his book the Masnavi:.

Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry and dance 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.

Rumi's teachings became the base for the order of the Mevlevi, which his son Sultan Walad organised.

Rumi encouraged Sama, listening to music and turning or doing the sacred dance.

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

Rumi's poetry is often divided into various categories: the quatrains and odes of the Divan, the six books of the Masnavi.

The prophets of Islam, according to Rumi, constitute the highest point of spiritual development and are the closest to God.

Accordingly, Rumi criticizes Christianity for "overloading the image of God with superfluous structures and complications".

Yet, Rumi declares that "the lamps are different, but the Light is the same; it comes from beyond".

Many of Rumi's poems suggest the importance of outward religious observance and the primacy of the Qur'an.

In truth, the pearly verse of the poem combines the Canon Law of Islam with the Sufi Path and the Divine Reality ; the author's [Rumi] achievement belongs to God in his bringing together of the Law, the Path, and the Truth in a way that includes critical intellect, profound thought, a brilliant natural temperament, and integrity of character that is endowed with power, insight, inspiration, and illumination.

Rumi's work has been translated into many of the world's languages, including Russian, German, Urdu, Turkish, Arabic, Bengali, French, Italian, Spanish, Telugu and Kannada and is being presented in a growing number of formats, including concerts, workshops, readings, dance performances, and other artistic creations.

Rumi's poetry is displayed on the walls of many cities across Iran, sung in Persian music, and read in school books.

Rumi used some of these incorrect words in his poems to express his support and humility towards Zarkoub.

Rumi named him his successor but Zarkoub died sooner than him.

The Mawlana Rumi Review is published annually by The Centre for Persian and Iranian Studies at the University of Exeter in collaboration with The Rumi Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus, and Archetype Books in Cambridge.