Jalaloddin Rumi was born in Balkh, Afghanistan, to
a family of learned theologians; his father was
known as the “Sultan of Scientists.” Escaping a Mongol
invasion, Rumi and his family fled Afghanistan,
made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and finally settled in
Konya, Anatolia (Asia Minor). At age 24, Rumi, already
a distinguished scholar, followed in his
father’s footsteps as a teacher and preacher of religious
sciences at the college in Konya.
Rumi lived a wealthy, respectful life. The most
distinguished philosophers of the time visited to
discuss ideas with him, and his lectures in mosques
drew enormous crowds. He became the sultan’s
consultant on law, and his opinion was considered
the highest authority. However, he was dissatisfied
and sought ways in which to learn more and impart
his knowledge to others. Then, at age 37, he
met a wandering dervish (a Muslim religious
order) named Shamsuddin of Tabriz.
Shamsuddin saw that Rumi’s creative potential
was stifled by the weight of his scholarly knowledge
and the burden of authority. Consequently,
Rumi spent 90 days in a private retreat with Shamsuddin,
from which both men emerged spiritually
transformed.
As a result of Shamsuddin’s instruction, Rumi
gave up everything he had in life and devoted himself
exclusively to a prolific outpouring of poetry.
He later named his collection the Diwan-i Shams-i
Tabriz-i (The Works of Shams of Tabriz) in honor
of Shamsuddin. The Diwan consists of about
40,000 verses, arranged according to rhythm, and
was written over a period of 30 years.
Rumi wrote thousands of poems glorifying life
and love for God, and he became the spiritual
founder of the Mawlawi Sufi order, a leading mystical
brotherhood of Islam that practiced “ecstatic
whirling” as a form of glorifying life and God.
When he died, his grave became a place of pilgrimage
for people all over the world. The day of Rumi’s
death was named “Night of Union,” and it is celebrated
to this day in honor of his life and works.
Critical Analysis
Among the great variety of themes in Rumi’s poetry,
love in all its forms is manifest. The poet explores
the immortal theme of love as passion in
such poems as “Love Is the Master,”“After Being in
Love, the Next Responsibility,” and “The Interest
without the Capital.” He sees passionate love as a
selfless experience that enriches one’s life:
The lover’s food is the love of the bread;
no bread need be at hand:
no one who is sincere in his love is a slave to
existence.
(Mathnawi 3, 3020–3024)
Almost all of Rumi’s love poems are ambiguous;
they can be interpreted as addressing both the
earthly love that exists between two people and the
higher love that exists between humans and God:
A house of love with no limits,
a presence more beautiful than venus or the
moon,
a beauty whose image fills the mirror of the
heart.
(The Divani Shamsi Tabriz, XV)
Other of Rumi’s poems, called his “Spiritual
couplets,” give vivid depictions of the mystical experiences
of ecstatic worship. These experiences are
based on expressing love for God and life through a
combination of poetry,music, and dance:
This is love: to fly to heaven, every moment
to rend a hundred veils;
At first instance, to break away from
breath—first step, to renounce feet . . .
(Mystical Poems of Rumi)
Beyond Rumi’s mystical poems of passionate
worship is his major work, the Mathnawi (Poem on
Hidden Meaning). Compared to Rumi’s mystical
poems, the Mathnawi is relatively sober and reasoned.
It comprises six books of poetry in a didactic
style intended to convey instruction, information,
pleasure, and entertainment. The poems take the
form of engaging anecdotes or tales,with numerous
digressions. Rumi tells each story to illustrate and
discuss a moral, similar to what is done in AESOP’s
fables, and within this anecdotal structure, he illustrates
the idea that it is important to distinguish between
form (the external appearance of things) and
meaning (internal, invisible reality):
Form is a Shadow,
Meaning is the Sun.
(Mathnawi, 6, 4747)
Rumi used various sources to derive the material
for these tales, including the KORAN and miscellaneous
folktales. In spite of the striking variety
of his sources and forms, the Mathnawi is a unified
work, planned around a central theme and aimed
at proving different points, such as those found in
Sufi’s interpretations of Islamic wisdom.
In the Mathnawi, Rumi expresses pity for people
who live as he used to—blind to the fact that
the surrounding world is just a blanket covering
reality. He describes the tangible things in life as
dreams or prisons:
Meaning of the wind makes it rush
about like a mill wheel—an internal
prisoner of a stream.
(Mathnawi, 1, 3333)
For the poet, reality is love, and materialism and
tangibility only fog its shining essence. He urges
people to shake off the stifling cover of everyday
life and to discover the real world:
Let go of your worries
and be completely clear-hearted,
like the face of a mirror
that contains no images.
(The Divani Shamsi Tabriz, XIII)
Rumi’s poetry has influenced not only Islamic
literature and civilization but also world literature,
philosophy, and culture. Some elements of Hegel’s
philosophical teachings were inspired by Rumi,
whose works have been translated into most world
languages. The importance of Jalaloddin Rumi,
“Teacher with Glowing Heart,” as he is often called,
cannot be overrated.
English Versions of Works by
Jalaloddin Rumi
The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing.
Translated by Coleman Barks. New York: Harper-
Collins, 2003.
Mathnawi. Translated by E. H.Whinfield. London:
Watkins Publishing, 2002.
The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems.
Translated by Coleman Barks. San Francisco:
HarperSanFrancisco, 2001.
Works about Jalaloddin Rumi
Friedlander, Shems. Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes.
New York: Parabola Books, 2003.
Johnson,Will. Rumi: Gazing at the Beloved: The Radical
Practice of Beholding the Divine. Rochester, Vt.:
Inner Traditions International, 2003.
Lewis, Franklin D. Rumi—Past and Present, East and
West: The Life, Teachings and Poetry of Jalal al-Din
Rumi. Oxford,U.K.: Oneworld Publications, 2004.