Rumi

Biography

Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi was a 13th century Persian poet, an Islamic dervish and a Sufi mystic. He is regarded as one of the greatest spiritual masters and poetical intellects. Born in 1207 AD, he belonged to a family of learned theologians. He made use of everyday life’s circumstances to describe the spiritual world. Rumi’s poems have acquired immense popularity, especially among the Persian speakers of Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan. Numerous poems written by the great poet have been translated to different languages.

Childhood
Jalaluddin Rumi was born on September 30, 1207, in Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan). His father, Bahaduddin Walad, was a theologian, jurist and a mystic, while his mother was Mumina Khatun. When Mongols invaded Central Asia, between 1215 and 1220, Rumi left Balkh with his family and a group of disciples. The migrating caravan traveled extensively in Muslim lands, including Baghdad, Damascus, Malatya, Erzincan, Sivas, Kayseri and Nigde. After performing pilgrimage in Mecca, they eventually settled in Konya, located in the present-day western Turkey. At that time, Rumi’s father was an Islamic theologian, a teacher and a preacher.
 
Career
Rumi was a disciple of Sayyed Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, one of his father’s students. Under the guidance of Sayyed Termazi, he practiced Sufism and acquired a lot of knowledge about spiritual matters and secrets of the spirit world. After the demise of Bahaduddin, in 1231 AD, Rumi inherited his father’s position and became a prominent religious teacher. He preached in the mosques of Konya. By the time Rumi reached the age of 24, he had proven himself as a well-informed scholar in the field of religious science.

Works
Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi: Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi (or Diwan-e-Kabir) is one of the masterpieces of Rumi. It is a collection of ghazals named in the honor of dervish Shamsuddin, who was Rumi’s great friend and inspiration. It also contains an assortment of poems arranged according to the rhyming scheme. Diwan-e-Kabir has been written in ‘Dari’ dialect. It is regarded as one of the greatest works of Persian literature.
Mathnawi: Mathnawi is a compilation of six volumes of poetry, written in a didactic style. The poems are intended to inform, instruct as well as entertain the reader. It is believed that Rumi started the work of Mathnawi at the suggestion of his then companion, Husam al-Din Chalabin. Mathnawi attempts to explain the various facets of spiritual life.