Shrine of Jalaluddin Rumi, Konya
Maulana Rumi was born on the 6th of Rabi-ul-Awwal in the Islamic Hijri year 604 in Balkh, present-day Afghanistan. His father, Hazrat Bahauddin Walad , was a great Muslim scholar & also a Sufi saint who descends from the lineage of Sayyidina Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq, the first Caliph of Islam.
Maulana Rumi grew up in this learned household in Afghanistan & became a fully accomplished scholar himself. Eventually, between the years 1215 & 1220, Hazrat Bahauddin Walad, with his whole family & a group of disciples, set out westwards. They peformed Hajj & then proceeded on their journey.
On 1 May 1228, most likely as a result of the insistent invitation of Ala'uddin Keyqobad, ruler of Anatolia, Hazrat Bahauddin Walad finally settled in Konya in Anatolia within the westernmost territories of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum.
On the road to Anatolia, Mawlana Rumi encountered one of the most famous mystic Persian poets, by the name of Fariduddin Attar, in the Iranian city of Nishapur, located in the province of Khorasan. Attar immediately recognized Rumi's spiritual eminence. He saw the father walking ahead of the son & said, “Here comes a sea followed by an ocean.” He then gave Mawlana Rumi his "Asrarnama", a book about the entanglement of the soul in the material world. This meeting had a deep impact on the eighteen-year-old Maulana Rumi & later on became the inspiration for his works.
Eventually, Hazrat Bahauddin Walad became the head of a seminary school (Madrasa) in Konya, Turkey. When he passed away, Mawlana Rumi was only 25 years old & took his father's place at the head of the school.
One of Hazrat Bahauddin Walad's students, Hazrat Sayyid Burhanuddin Muhaqqiq Tirmazi, continued to train Maulana Rumi in the religious & mystical doctrines of Hazrat Rumi’s father. For nine years, Rumi practiced Sufism as a disciple of Hazrat Sayyid Burhanuddin until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Hazrat Rumi's public life then began: he became a teacher who preached in the mosques of Konya & taught his adherents in the Madrasa.
During this period, Maulana Rumi also travelled to Damascus & is said to have spent four years there.
One version of the famous meeting that Mawlana Rumi had with Hazrat Shams Tabrez , was that once Mawlana Rumi was teaching a group of his students & referring to his handwritten books & notes while Hazrat Shams Tabrez happened to come along & asked him about those notes.
Mawlana Rumi replied that the books & notes were beyond the understanding of Hazrat Shams Tabrez. Then Mawlana Rumi continued his class, meanwhile Hazrat Shams Tabrez threw all the books into a nearby pond of water. The students noticed this & started beating him. This caught the attention of Mawlana Rumi who complained about losing his knowledge. Hazrat Shams Tabrez replied that he could return the books, so he recited "Bismillah" & retrieved the books from the water, which to everyone's surprise, were still intact. Seeing this, Mawlana Rumi was amazed & asked how this was possible – to which Hazrat Shams Tabrez replied that such knowledge was beyond that of an external scholar.
On the night of 5 December 1248, as Hazrat Rumi & Hazrat Shams were talking, Hazrat Shams Tabrez was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. It is rumored that Hazrat Shams Tabrez was murdered; if so, Hazrat Shams indeed gave his head for his mystical friendship with Mawlana Rumi.
One day, the two of them were wandering through the Meram vineyards outside Konya when Hazrat Hussam described to Maulana Rumi an idea he had: "If you were to write a book like the Ilahinama of Sana'i or the Mantiqut-Tayr of ‘Attar, it would become the companion of many poets. They would fill their hearts from your work & compose music to accompany it."
Maulana Rumi then smiled & took out a piece of paper on which were written the opening eighteen lines of his Masnavi, beginning with:
Hazrat Hussam implored Maulana Rumi to write more. Maulana Rumi spent the next twelve years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hazrat Hussam.
In his commentary on the Masnavi Sharif, Maulana Abdur Rahman Jami, the famous 15th century Persian Sufi saint & poet, writes:
"The word "ney" (reed) in the first couplet of the Masnavi means a perfect & exalted human being brought up in Islam. Such people have forgotten themselves & everything else. Their minds are always busy seeking the rida (approval) of Allah, The Most Exalted."
Mawlana Jami says that "Ney" also means non-existent, because these men are emptied of themselves. Finally he says "Ney" refers to the reed-pen. A pen’s writings are fully controlled by its writer, which also points to men emptied of existence & perfectly submitting to the will of Allah, The Most Exalted.
Maulana Rumi states in his Diwan-e-Shams: "The Sufi is hanging on to Muhammad, like Abu Bakr ."
Mawlana Rumi passed away & reunited with his Beloved Lord on 5th Jamadi-ul-Aakhir 672 Hijri in Konya Sharif, Turkey. His tomb is near to that of his friend & guide, Hazrat Shams Tabrez & his body was laid to rest beside his father under a beautiful tomb named Yesil Turbe or "the Green Tomb".
His epitaph written on his tomb reads:
"When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men."
For any given individual, that person is his or her Sheikh or Spiritual Guide (Pir-o-Murshid). Regarding the importance of the Sheikh, Mawlana Rumi writes:
(For without them one cannot reach perfection.)
In the Masnavi Sharif, Maulana Rumi writes the following:
"Seeing a man who was tilling the earth, a fool who was unable to control himself, cried out, "Why are you ruining this soil?"
"Fool," said the man, “leave me alone: try to recognize the difference between tending the soil & wasting it. How will this soil become a rose garden until it is disturbed & overturned?"
This verse demonstrates importance of the Sheikh who acts as the tiller, testing the spiritual disciple (Mureed) so that the Mureed’s full inner potential is realized & his or her spiritual station is elevated.
Maulana Rumi's importance continues throughout the centuries & across cultures. Hazrat Allamah Iqbal , the great 19th century poet-philosopher of the Indian subcontinent, separated by six centuries of time, famously attributed Maulana Rumi as his Pir when he wrote "Pir-e-Rumi, Mureed-e-Hindi" & also about himself:
Maulana Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry & Sufi dance as a path for reaching God.
For Maulana Rumi, music helped devotees to focus their whole being on the Divine & to do this so intensely that the soul was both destroyed & resurrected. It was from these ideas that the practice of whirling dervishes developed into a ritual form.
His teachings became the base for the Mevlevi order which his son Hazrat Sultan Walad established. Maulana Rumi encouraged sama, listening to music & turning or doing the sacred dance. In the Mevlevi tradition, sama represents a mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind & love to the Perfect One. In this journey, the seeker symbolically turns towards the truth, grows through love, abandons the ego, finds the truth & arrives at the Perfect One.
All over the world, the name Rumi is a beacon of light for broken-hearts & seekers of the truth. His life story is an amazing demonstration of love & union with the Divine & his teachings pave the way to the Beloved.
Through the Masnavi Sharif, many have opened their eyes to the light of Sufism & found the road to God by following the pen of Maulana Rumi.
May the Muslim Ummah continue to prosper through the words & wisdom of our beloved Auliya, ameen!
Mausoleum of Rumi
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