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| '''Jalĝl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī''', also known as '''Jalĝl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī''' and popularly known as '''Mowlĝnĝ''' but known to the English-speaking world simply as '''Rumi'''<ref name="name">NOTE: [[Transliteration]] of the [[Arabic alphabet]] into English varies. One common transliteration is Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi; the usual brief reference to him is simply Rumi or Balkhi. His given name, Jalĝl ad-Dīn Muhammad, literally means "Majesty of Religion"</ref> (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century Perhaps the most famous Sufi who is known to many Muslims even today by his title alone is the seventh/13th century Persian mystic Rumi | | '''Jalĝl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī''', also known as '''Jalĝl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī''' and popularly known as '''Mowlĝnĝ''' but known to the English-speaking world simply as '''Rumi''' of the Arabic alphabetinto English varies. One common transliteration is Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi; the usual brief reference to him is simply Rumi or Balkhi. His given name, Jalĝl ad-Dīn Muhammad, literally means "Majesty of Religion" (, was a 13th-century Perhaps the most famous Sufi who is known to many Muslims even today by his title alone is the seventh/13th century Persian mystic Rumi |
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| Rumi died on 17 December 1273 in [[Konya]]; his body was interred beside that of his father, and a splendid shrine, the ''Yeşil Türbe'' (Green Tomb, قبه الخضراء; today the [[Mevlana Museum]]), was erected over his place of burial. His epitaph reads: {{quote| When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men.<ref>[http://www.anatolia.com/anatolia/Religion_and_Spirituality/Mevlana/Default.asp Mevlana Jalal al-din Rumi]</ref>}} | | Rumi died on 17 December 1273 in Konya; his body was interred beside that of his father, and a splendid shrine, the ''Yeşil Türbe'' (Green Tomb today the Mevlana Museum), was erected over his place of burial. His epitaph reads: {{quote| When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men. |
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| == Teachings == | | == Teachings == |
| The general theme of Rumi's thought, like that of other mystic and Sufi poets of Persian literature, is essentially that of the concept of ''[[tawhīd]]'' – union with his beloved (the primal root) from which/whom he has been cut off and become aloof – and his longing and desire to restore it The ''Masnavi'' weaves fables, scenes from everyday life, Qur’anic revelations and exegesis, and metaphysics into a vast and intricate tapestry.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} In the East, it is said of him that he was "not a prophet — but surely, he has brought a scripture". 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. It was from these ideas that the practice of "whirling" dervishes developed into a ritual form. His teachings became the base for the order of the [[Mawlawi]] which his son Sultan Walad organized. Rumi encouraged ''[[sema|samĝʿ]]'', listening to music and turning or doing the sacred dance. In the Mevlevi tradition, ''samĝʿ'' represents a mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind and love to the Perfect One. In this journey, the seeker symbolically turns towards the truth, grows through love, abandons the ego, finds the truth, and arrives at the Perfect. The seeker then returns from this spiritual journey, with greater maturity, to love and to be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination with regard to beliefs, races, classes, and nations. In other verses in the [[Masnavi]], Rumi describes in detail the universal message of love: {{quote| The lover’s cause is separate from all other causes<br /> Love is the astrolabe of God's mysteries.<ref>{{cite book | last =Naini | first =Majid| title =The Mysteries of the Universe and Rumi's Discoveries on the Majestic Path of Love | authorlink=Majid Naini}}</ref>}} | | The general theme of Rumi's thought, like that of other mystic and Sufi poets of Persian literature, is essentially that of the concept of ''[[tawhid]]'';– union with his beloved (the primal root) from which/whom he has been cut off and become aloof – and his longing and desire to restore it The ''Masnavi'' weaves fables, scenes from everyday life, Qur’anic revelations and exegesis, and metaphysics into a vast and intricate tapestry. |
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| == Major works == | | == Major works == |
| Rumi's poetry is often divided into various categories: the quatrains (''[[rubaiyat|rubayĝt]]'') and odes (''[[ghazal]]'') of the ''Divan'', the six books of the ''Masnavi''. The prose works are divided into The Discourses, The Letters, and the ''Seven Sermons''. === Poetic works === [[Image:Turkey.Konya021.jpg|thumb|<center>Maṭnawīye Ma'nawī<br /> [[Mevlana Museum]], [[Konya]], [[Turkey]] </center>]] *Rumi's major work is the ''Maṭnawīye Ma'nawī'' (''Spiritual Couplets''; {{lang|fa|مثنوی معنوی}}), a six-volume poem regarded by some Sufis<ref> Abdul Rahman [[Jami]] notes: {{quote| من چه گویم وصٝ آن عالیجناب — نیست پیغمبر ولی دارد کتاب مثنوی معنوی مولوی — هست قرآن در زبان پهلوی}} {{quote| What can I say in praise of that great one?<br /> He is not a Prophet but has come with a book;<br /> The Spiritual ''Masnavi'' of Mowlavi<br /> Is the Qur'an in the language of Pahlavi (Persian).}} (Khawaja Abdul Hamid Irfani, "The Sayings of Rumi and Iqbal", Bazm-e-Rumi, 1976.) </ref> as the Persian-language [[Qur'an]]. It is considered by many to be one of the greatest works of mystical poetry.<ref>J.T.P. de Bruijn, "Comparative Notes on Sanai and 'Attar" , The Heritage of Sufism, L. Lewisohn, ed., pp. 361: "It is common place to mention Hakim Sana'i (d. 525/1131) and Farid al-Din 'Attar (1221) together as early highlights in a tradition of Persian mystical poetry which reached its culmination in the work of Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi and those who belonged to the early Mawlawi circle. There is abundant evidence available to prove that the founders of the Mawlawwiya in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries regarded these two poets as their most important predecessors"</ref> It contains approximately 27000 lines of Persian poetry.<ref>Franklin Lewis, Rumi Past and Present, East and West, Oneworld Publications, 2008 (revised edition). pg 306: "The manuscripts versions differ greatly in the size of the text and orthography. Nicholson’s text has 25,577 lines though the average medieval and early modern manuscripts contained around 27,000 lines, meaning the scribes added two thousand lines or about eight percent more to the poem composed by Rumi. Some manuscripts give as many as 32000!"</ref> {{Further|[[Masnavi]]}} *Rumi's other major work is the ''Dīwĝn-e Kabīr'' (''Great Work'') or ''Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi|Dīwĝn-e Shams-e Tabrīzī'' (''The Works of Shams of [[Tabriz]]''; {{lang|fa|دیوان شمس تبریزی}} named in honor of Rumi's master [[Shams Tabraiz|Shams]]. Besides approximately 35000 Persian couplets and 2000 Persian quatrains,<ref>Franklin D. Lewis, Rumi: Past and Present, East and West: The Life, Teaching, and Poetry of Jalâl al-Din Rumi, rev. ed. (2008). pg 314: “The Foruzanfar’s edition of the Divan-e Shams compromises 3229 ghazals and qasidas making a total of almost 35000 lines, not including several hundred lines of stanzaic poems and nearly two thousand quatrains attributed to him”</ref> the Divan contains 90 Ghazals and 19 quatrains in [[Arabic language|Arabic]],<ref>[http://www.dar-al-masnavi.org/about.html Dar al-Masnavi Website, accessed December 2009]: According to the Dar al-Masnavi website: “In Forûzânfar's edition of Rumi's Divan, there are 90 ghazals (Vol. 1, 29;Vol. 2, 1; Vol. 3, 6; Vol. 4, 8; Vol. 5, 19, Vol. 6, 0; Vol. 7, 27) and 19 quatrains entirely in Arabic. In addition, there are ghazals which are all Arabic except for the final line; many have one or two lines in Arabic within the body of the poem; some have as many as 9-13 consecutive lines in Arabic, with Persian verses preceding and following; some have alternating lines in Persian, then Arabic; some have the first half of the verse in Persian, the second half in Arabic.”</ref> a couple of dozen or so couplets in Turkish (mainly macaronic poems of mixed Persian and Turkish)<ref>Mecdut MensurOghlu: “The Divan of Jalal al-Din Rumi contains 35 couplets in Turkish and Turkish-Persian which have recently been published me” (Celal al-Din Rumi’s turkische Verse: UJb. XXIV (1952), pp 106-115)</ref><ref>Franklin D. Lewis, Rumi: Past and Present, East and West: The Life, Teaching, and Poetry of Jalâl al-Din Rumi, rev. ed. (2008):"“a couple of dozen at most of the 35,000 lines of the Divan-I Shams are in Turkish, and almost all of these lines occur in poems that are predominantly in Persian”"</ref> and 14 couplets in Greek(all of them in three macaronic poems of Greek-Persian).<ref>Dedes, D. 1993. Ποίηματα του Μαυλανά Ρουμή [Poems by Rumi]. Ta Istorika 10.18-19: 3-22. see also [http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/Play/rumiwalad.html]</ref><ref>Franklin D. Lewis, Rumi: Past and Present, East and West: The Life, Teaching, and Poetry of Jalâl al-Din Rumi, rev. ed. (2008):"Three poems have bits of demotic Greek; these have been identified and translated into French, along with some Greek verses of Sultan Valad. Golpinarli (GM 416-417) indicates according to Vladimir Mir Mirughli, the Greek used in some of Rumi’s macaronic poems reflects the demotic Greek of the inhabitants of Anatolia. Golpinarli then argues that Rumi knew classical Persian and Arabic with precision, but typically composes poems in a more popular or colloquial Persian and Arabic.".</ref> {{Further|[[Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi]]}} === Prose works === *[[Fihi ma fihi|''Fihi Ma Fihi'']] (''In It What's in It'', Persian: ٝیه ما ٝیه) provides a record of seventy-one talks and lectures given by Rumi on various occasions to his disciples. It was compiled from the notes of his various disciples, so Rumi did not author the work directly.<ref>Franklin Lewis, ''Rumi: Past and Present, East and West – The Life, Teachings, and Poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi'', Oneworld Publications, 2000, Chapter 7.</ref> An English translation from the Persian was first published by A.J. Arberry as ''Discourses of Rumi''(New York: Samuel Weiser, 1972), and a translation of the second book by Wheeler Thackston, ''Sign of the Unseen''(Putney, VT: Threshold Books, 1994). *''Majĝles-e Sab'a'' (''Seven Sessions'', Persian: مجالس سبعه) contains seven Persian sermons (as the name implies) or lectures given in seven different assemblies. The sermons themselves give a commentary on the deeper meaning of Qur'an and [[Hadeeth]]. The sermons also include quotations from poems of Sana'i, 'Attar, and other poets, including Rumi himself. As Aflakī relates, after Shams-e Tabrīzī, Rumi gave sermons at the request of notables, especially Salĝh al-Dīn Zarkūb.<ref>Franklin Lewis, ''Rumi: Past and Present, East and West – The Life, Teachings, and Poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi'', Oneworld Publications, 2000.</ref> *''Makatib'' (''The Letters'', Persian: مکاتیب) is the book containing Rumi's letters in Persian to his disciples, family members, and men of state and of influence. The letters testify that Rumi kept very busy helping family members and administering a community of disciples that had grown up around them. | | Rumi's poetry is often divided into various categories: the quatrains (''[[rubaiyat|rubayĝt]]'') and odes (''[[ghazal]]'') of the ''Divan'', the six books of the ''Masnavi''. The prose works are divided into The Discourses, The Letters, and the ''Seven Sermons''. |
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| == Philosophical outlook == | | == Philosophical outlook == |
| Rumi was an evolutionary thinker in the sense that he believed that the spirit after devolution from the divine [[Ego]] undergoes an evolutionary process by which it comes nearer and nearer to the same divine Ego.<ref>M.M. Sharif, ''A History of Muslim Philosophy'', Vol II, p. 827.</ref> All matter in the universe obeys this law and this movement is due to an inbuilt urge (which Rumi calls "love") to evolve and seek enjoinment with the divinity from which it has emerged. Evolution into a human being from an animal is only one stage in this process. The doctrine of the [[Fall of Adam]] is reinterpreted as the devolution of the Ego from the universal ground of divinity and is a universal, cosmic phenomenon.<ref>M.M. Sharif, ''A History of Muslim Philosophy'', Vol II, p. 828.</ref> The French philosopher [[Henri Bergson]]'s idea of life being creative and evolutionary is similar, though unlike Bergson, Rumi believes that there is a specific ''goal'' to the process: the attainment of God. For Rumi, God is the ground as well as the goal of all existence. However Rumi need not be considered a biological [[Theistic evolution|evolutionary creationist]]. In view of the fact that Rumi lived hundreds of years before Darwin, and was least interested in scientific theories, it is probable to conclude that he does not deal with biological evolution at all. Rather he is concerned with the spiritual evolution of a human being: Man not conscious of God is akin to an animal and true consciousness makes him divine. Nicholson has seen this as a [[Neo-Platonism|Neo-Platonic]] doctrine: the universal soul working through the various spheres of being, a doctrine introduced into Islam by Muslim philosophers like [[Al Farabi]] and being related at the same time to [[Ibn Sina]]'s idea of love as the magnetically working power by which life is driven into an upward trend.<ref>The triumphal sun By Annemarie Schimmel. Pg 328</ref> {{Lquote| I died as a mineral and became a plant,<br /> I died as plant and rose to animal,<br /> I died as animal and I was Man.<br /> Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?<br /> Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar<br /> With angels bless'd; but even from angelhood<br /> I must pass on: all except God doth perish.<br /> When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,<br /> I shall become what no mind e'er conceived.<br /> Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence<br /> Proclaims in organ tones,<br /> To Him we shall return.}} از جمادی مٝردم و نامی شدم — وز نما مٝردم بهحیوان سرزدم مٝردم از حیوانی و آدم شدم — پس چه ترسم؟ کی ز مردن کم شدم؟ حمله دیگر بمیرم از بشر — تا برآرم از ملائک بال و پر وز ملک هم بایدم جستن ز جو — کل شیء هالک الا وجهه بار دیگر از ملک پران شوم — آنچه اندر وهم ناید آن شوم پس عدم گردم عدم چو ارغنون — گویدم کانا الیه راجعون {{clr}} | | Rumi was an evolutionary thinker in the sense that he believed that the spirit after devolution from the divine [[Ego]] undergoes an evolutionary process by which it comes nearer and nearer to the same divine Ego.<ref>M.M. Sharif, ''A History of Muslim Philosophy'', Vol II, p. 827.</ref> All matter in the universe obeys this law and this movement is due to an inbuilt urge (which Rumi calls "love") to evolve and seek enjoinment with the divinity from which it has emerged. Evolution into a human being from an animal is only one stage in this process. The doctrine of the [[Fall of Adam]] is reinterpreted as the devolution of the Ego from the universal ground of divinity and is a universal, cosmic phenomenon.<ref>M.M. Sharif, ''A History of Muslim Philosophy'', Vol II, p. 828.</ref> The French philosopher [[Henri Bergson]]'s idea of life being creative and evolutionary is similar, though unlike Bergson, Rumi believes that there is a specific ''goal'' to the process: the attainment of God. For Rumi, God is the ground as well as the goal of all existence. However Rumi need not be considered a biological Theistic evolution. In view of the fact that Rumi lived hundreds of years before Darwin, and was least interested in scientific theories, it is probable to conclude that he does not deal with biological evolution at all. Rather he is concerned with the spiritual evolution of a human being: Man not conscious of God is akin to an animal and true consciousness makes him divine. |
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| ===Universality=== | | ===Universality=== |
| It is often said that the teachings of Rumi are ecumenical in nature.<ref>Various Scholars such as Khalifah Abdul Hakim (''Jalal al-Din Rumi''), Afzal Iqbal (''The Life and Thought of Rumi''), and others have expressed this opinion; for a direct secondary source, see citation below.</ref> For Rumi, religion was mostly a personal experience and not limited to logical arguments or perceptions of the senses.<ref name="autogenerated1">Khalifah Abdul Hakim, "Jalal al-Din Rumi" in M.M. Sharif, ed., ''A History of Muslim Philosophy'', Vol II.</ref> Creative love, or the urge to rejoin the spirit to divinity, was the goal towards which every thing moves.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> The dignity of life, in particular human life (which is conscious of its divine origin and goal), was important.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> | | It is often said that the teachings of Rumi are ecumenical in nature.<ref>Various Scholars such as Khalifah Abdul Hakim (''Jalal al-Din Rumi''), Afzal Iqbal (''The Life and Thought of Rumi''), and others have expressed this opinion; for a direct secondary source, see citation below.</ref> For Rumi, religion was mostly a personal experience and not limited to logical arguments or perceptions of the senses.<ref name="autogenerated1">Khalifah Abdul Hakim, "Jalal al-Din Rumi" in M.M. Sharif, ed., ''A History of Muslim Philosophy'', Vol II.</ref> Creative love, or the urge to rejoin the spirit to divinity, was the goal towards which every thing moves.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> The dignity of life, in particular human life (which is conscious of its divine origin and goal), was important.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> |
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| ===Islam=== | | ===Islam=== |
| However, despite the aforementioned ecumenical attitude, and contrary to his contemporary portrayal in the West as a proponent of non-denominational spirituality, a number of Rumi poems suggest the importance of outward religious observance, the primacy of the Qur'an.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2000|pp=407–408}}</ref> {{quote| Flee to God's Qur'an, take refuge in it<br /> there with the spirits of the prophets merge.<br /> The Book conveys the prophets' circumstances<br /> those fish of the pure sea of Majesty.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2000|p=408}}</ref>}} Rumi's approach to Islam is further clarified in this [[quatrain]]: {{quote| Man banda-ye qur'ĝnam, agar jĝn dĝram <br /> man khĝk-e rah-e muhammad-e mukhtĝram <br /> gar naql konad joz īn kas az goftĝram <br /> bēzĝram azŝ waz-īn sokhan bēzĝram.}} {{quote| I am the servant of the Qur'an as long as I have life.<br /> I am the dust on the path of Muhammad, the Chosen One.<br /> If anyone quotes anything except this from my sayings,<br /> I am quit of him and outraged by these words.<ref>Quatrain No. 1173, translated by Ibrahim Gamard and Ravan Farhadi in "The Quatrains of Rumi", an unpublished manuscript</ref>}} [[Seyyed Hossein Nasr]] states: <blockquote>One of the greatest living authorities on Rûmî in Persia today, Hâdî Hâ'irî, has shown in an unpublished work that some 6,000 verses of the Dîwân and the Mathnawî are practically direct translations of Qur'ânic verses into Persian poetry.<ref>Seyyed Hossein Nasr, "Rumi and the Sufi Tradition," in Chelkowski (ed.), ''The Scholar and the Saint'', p. 183</ref></blockquote> Rumi states in his [[Diwan (poetry)|Dīwĝn]]: <blockquote>The Sufi is hanging on to Muhammad, like [[Abu Bakr]].<ref>Quoted in Ibrahim Gamard, ''Rumi and Islam: Selections from His Stories, Poems, and Discourses — Annotated and Explained'', p. 171.</ref></blockquote> His [[Masnavi]] contains anecdotes and stories derived largely from the Quran and the hadith, as well as everyday tales. On the first page of the Masnavi, Rumi states: <blockquote> "Hadha kitâbu 'l- mathnawîy wa huwa uSûlu uSûli uSûli 'd-dîn wa kashshâfu 'l-qur'ân." <br> This is the book of the Masnavi, and it is the roots of the roots of the roots of the (Islamic) Religion and it is the Explainer of the Qur'ân.</blockquote> The famous (15th century) Sufi poet Jâmî, said of the Masnavi,<br> <blockquote>"Hast qur'ân dar zabân-é pahlawî" <br> It is the Qur'ân in Persian. </blockquote> == Legacy == Rumi's poetry forms the basis of much classical [[Music of Iran|Iranian]] and [[Music of Afghanistan|Afghan]] music (Eastern-Persian, Tajik-Hazara music).{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} Contemporary classical interpretations of his poetry are made by [[Muhammad Reza Shajarian]], [[Shahram Nazeri]], [[Davood Azad]] (the three from Iran) and [[Ustad Mohammad Hashem Cheshti]] (Afghanistan). Today, Rumi's legacy is expanding in the West as well through the work of translators and performers such as [[Shahram Shiva]], who has been presenting bilingual Persian/English Rumi events in the US since 1993. 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]], was also inspired by Rumi's works and considered him to be his spiritual leader, addressing him as "Pir Rumi" in his poems (the honorific ''[[Pir (Sufism)|Pir]]'' literally means "old man", but in the sufi/mystic context it means founder, master, or guide).<ref>{{cite web | last =Said | first =Farida | title =REVIEWS: The Rumi craze | url =http://www.dawn.com/weekly/books/archive/050508/books18.htm | accessdate =2007-05-19 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070927220804/http://www.dawn.com/weekly/books/archive/050508/books18.htm |archivedate = 2007-09-27}}</ref> "Rumi deals with the human condition and that is always relevant," says [[Shahram Shiva]]. "Rumi is able to verbalize the highly personal and often confusing world of personal growth and development in a very clear and direct fashion. He does not offend anyone, and he includes everyone. The world of Rumi is neither exclusively the world of a Sufi, nor the world of a Hindu, nor a Jew, nor a Christian; it is a state of an evolved human. A human who is not bound by cultural limitations; a one who touches every one of us. Today Rumi's poems can be heard in churches, synagogues, Zen monasteries, as well as in the downtown New York art/performance/music scene." According to Professor Majid M. Naini,<ref>[http://www.naini.net From Dr. Naini's programs]</ref> "Rumi's life and transformation provide true testimony and proof that people of all religions and backgrounds can live together in peace and harmony. Rumi’s visions, words, and life teach us how to reach inner peace and happiness so we can finally stop the continual stream of hostility and hatred and achieve true global peace and harmony.” Rumi's work has been translated into many of the world's languages, including Russian, German, Urdu, Turkish, Arabic, Bengali, French, Italian, and Spanish, and is being presented in a growing number of formats, including concerts, workshops, readings, dance performances, and other artistic creations.<ref>[http://www.rumi.net From Rumi Network]</ref> The English interpretations of Rumi's poetry by [[Coleman Barks]] have sold more than half a million copies worldwide,<ref>[http://www.ut.ac.ir/en/dr-braks/dr-barks.htm The Diploma of Honorary Doctorate of the University of Tehran in the field of Persian Language and Literature will be granted to Professor Coleman Barks<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and Rumi is one of the most widely read poets in the [[United States]].<ref>Curiel,Jonathan, [[San Francisco Chronicle]] Staff Writer, ''Islamic verses: The influence of Muslim literature in the United States has grown stronger since the Sept. 11 attacks'' (February 6, 2005), [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/06/INGH7B3FM31.DTL Available online] (Retrieved Aug 2006)</ref> Recordings of Rumi poems have made it to the USA's Billboard's Top 20 list. A selection of American author [[Deepak Chopra]]'s editing of the translations by Fereydoun Kia of Rumi's love poems has been performed by Hollywood personalities such as [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]], [[Goldie Hawn]], [[Philip Glass]] and [[Demi Moore]]. [[Shahram Shiva]]'s CD, ''Rumi: Lovedrunk'', has been very popular amongst users of internet websites like MySpace and Facebook. There is a famous landmark in Northern India, known as [[Rumi Gate]], situated in Lucknow (the capital of Uttar Pradesh) named after Rumi. Rumi and his mausoleum were depicted on the [[Obverse and reverse|reverse]] of the [[:File:5000 TL A reverse.jpg|5000 Turkish lira banknotes]] of 1981-1994.<ref>[http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/eng/ Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey]. Banknote Museum: 7. Emission Group - Five Thousand Turkish Lira - [http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/banknote/E7/274.htm I. Series], [http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/banknote/E7/276.htm II. Series] & [http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/banknote/E7/278.htm III. Series]. – Retrieved on 20 April 2009.</ref> | | However, despite the aforementioned ecumenical attitude, and contrary to his contemporary portrayal in the West as a proponent of non-denominational spirituality, a number of Rumi poems suggest the importance of outward religious observance, the primacy of the Qur'an.{{quote| Flee to God's Qur'an, take refuge in it<br /> there with the spirits of the prophets merge.<br /> The Book conveys the prophets' circumstances<br /> those fish of the pure sea of Majesty.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2000|p=408}}</ref>}} Rumi's approach to Islam is further clarified in this quatrain: {{quote| Man banda-ye qur'ĝnam, agar jĝn dĝram <br /> man khĝk-e rah-e muhammad-e mukhtĝram <br /> gar naql konad joz īn kas az goftĝram <br /> bēzĝram azŝ waz-īn sokhan bēzĝram.}} {{quote| I am the servant of the Qur'an as long as I have life.<br /> I am the dust on the path of Muhammad, the Chosen One.<br /> If anyone quotes anything except this from my sayings,<br /> I am quit of him and outraged by these words. His Masnavi contains anecdotes and stories derived largely from the Quran and the hadith, as well as everyday tales. |
Jalĝl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī, also known as Jalĝl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī and popularly known as Mowlĝnĝ but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi of the Arabic alphabetinto English varies. One common transliteration is Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi; the usual brief reference to him is simply Rumi or Balkhi. His given name, Jalĝl ad-Dīn Muhammad, literally means "Majesty of Religion" (, was a 13th-century Perhaps the most famous Sufi who is known to many Muslims even today by his title alone is the seventh/13th century Persian mystic Rumi
Rumi died on 17 December 1273 in Konya; his body was interred beside that of his father, and a splendid shrine, the Yeşil Türbe (Green Tomb today the Mevlana Museum), was erected over his place of burial. His epitaph reads: {{quote| When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men.
Teachings
The general theme of Rumi's thought, like that of other mystic and Sufi poets of Persian literature, is essentially that of the concept of tawhid;– union with his beloved (the primal root) from which/whom he has been cut off and become aloof – and his longing and desire to restore it The Masnavi weaves fables, scenes from everyday life, Qur’anic revelations and exegesis, and metaphysics into a vast and intricate tapestry.
== Major works ==
Rumi's poetry is often divided into various categories: the quatrains (rubayĝt) and odes (ghazal) of the Divan, the six books of the Masnavi. The prose works are divided into The Discourses, The Letters, and the Seven Sermons.
Philosophical outlook
Rumi was an evolutionary thinker in the sense that he believed that the spirit after devolution from the divine Ego undergoes an evolutionary process by which it comes nearer and nearer to the same divine Ego.[1] All matter in the universe obeys this law and this movement is due to an inbuilt urge (which Rumi calls "love") to evolve and seek enjoinment with the divinity from which it has emerged. Evolution into a human being from an animal is only one stage in this process. The doctrine of the Fall of Adam is reinterpreted as the devolution of the Ego from the universal ground of divinity and is a universal, cosmic phenomenon.[2] The French philosopher Henri Bergson's idea of life being creative and evolutionary is similar, though unlike Bergson, Rumi believes that there is a specific goal to the process: the attainment of God. For Rumi, God is the ground as well as the goal of all existence. However Rumi need not be considered a biological Theistic evolution. In view of the fact that Rumi lived hundreds of years before Darwin, and was least interested in scientific theories, it is probable to conclude that he does not deal with biological evolution at all. Rather he is concerned with the spiritual evolution of a human being: Man not conscious of God is akin to an animal and true consciousness makes him divine.
Universality
It is often said that the teachings of Rumi are ecumenical in nature.[3] For Rumi, religion was mostly a personal experience and not limited to logical arguments or perceptions of the senses.[4] Creative love, or the urge to rejoin the spirit to divinity, was the goal towards which every thing moves.[4] The dignity of life, in particular human life (which is conscious of its divine origin and goal), was important.[4]
Islam
However, despite the aforementioned ecumenical attitude, and contrary to his contemporary portrayal in the West as a proponent of non-denominational spirituality, a number of Rumi poems suggest the importance of outward religious observance, the primacy of the Qur'an.
Flee to God's Qur'an, take refuge in it
there with the spirits of the prophets merge.
The Book conveys the prophets' circumstances
those fish of the pure sea of Majesty.[5]
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Rumi's approach to Islam is further clarified in this quatrain:
Man banda-ye qur'ĝnam, agar jĝn dĝram
man khĝk-e rah-e muhammad-e mukhtĝram
gar naql konad joz īn kas az goftĝram
bēzĝram azŝ waz-īn sokhan bēzĝram.
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{{quote| I am the servant of the Qur'an as long as I have life.
I am the dust on the path of Muhammad, the Chosen One.
If anyone quotes anything except this from my sayings,
I am quit of him and outraged by these words. His Masnavi contains anecdotes and stories derived largely from the Quran and the hadith, as well as everyday tales.
- ^ M.M. Sharif, A History of Muslim Philosophy, Vol II, p. 827.
- ^ M.M. Sharif, A History of Muslim Philosophy, Vol II, p. 828.
- ^ Various Scholars such as Khalifah Abdul Hakim (Jalal al-Din Rumi), Afzal Iqbal (The Life and Thought of Rumi), and others have expressed this opinion; for a direct secondary source, see citation below.
- ^ a b c Khalifah Abdul Hakim, "Jalal al-Din Rumi" in M.M. Sharif, ed., A History of Muslim Philosophy, Vol II.
- ^ Template:Harvnb
