Mawlānā Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī Presentation

Mawlānā Jalāl ad-Dīn RūmīThe poet and Sufi mystic

Who is Rumi?• Born,1207, in Balkh; Died, 17 Dec.

1273, in Konya • Roots in Khorasan region• Father a well-known scholar • Westward migration• Hajj and Damascus• Meeting with scholars• Marriage to Gevher Hatun• Settling in Karaman• Dwelling in Konya upon invitation• The descriptive name “Rumi”

Rumi as a Master, friend and a poet

• Earlier reads books and lectures students everyday

• Meeting with Shams Tabrizi• Shams disappears; reunites

and then disappears again forever (60)(63)(65)

• Rumi in pain and as a poet• Rumi and a Christian priest (101)

• 1,000 days of training• Mawlawi derwishes spread

Major Works of Rumi• Mathnawi Manawi– 25,618 couplets

• Divan-e Kabir– 35,000 couplets; 2,000

quatrains; 90 Ghazals; …

• Fihi ma fih– 71 lectures

• Majales-e Seba– 7 sermons

• Makatib– Letters to students and family

The Mathnawi• Main Theme: Tawhid; union w/ Beloved;

love of God and his messenger• Forms: – Fables– Quranic stories– Symbolism

• Poetry, music, Sama • Lyric style: – “Aruz” rythmic forms– Rhyme style: aa/bb/…

Samples from Mathnavi

• 18 couplets from the Prologue of Mathnawi

• Stories inside stories• Two fables– The Rabbit and the Lion– The Merchant and the

Parrot

• Rumi’s Universality

Rumi’s UniversalityI searched for God among the Christians and on the Cross and therein I found Him not.I went into the ancient temples of idolatry; no trace of Him was there.

I entered the mountain cave of Hira and then went as far as Qandhar but God I found not.With set purpose I fared to the summit of Mount Caucasus and found there only 'anqa's habitation.

Then I directed my search to the Kaaba, the resort of old and young; God was not there even.Turning to philosophy I inquired about him from ibn Sina but found Him not within his range.…Finally, I looked into my own heart and there I saw Him; He was nowhere else…

One foot in his own faith tradition while the other roams freely to the faiths of others

What is to be done, O Moslems? for I don’t recognize myself.I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Parsi, nor Moslem.

I am not of the East, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea;

I am not of Nature's mint, nor of the circling' heaven. I am not of earth, nor of water, nor of air, nor of fire;

I am not of the spheres, nor of the dust, nor of existence, nor of entity.

I am not of India, nor of China, nor of Bulgaria, nor of Arabia I am not of the this world, nor of the next, nor of Paradise, nor of

Hell I am not of Adam, nor of Eve, nor of Eden and Rizwan.

My place is the Placeless, my trace is the Traceless ; 'Tis neither body nor soul, for I belong to the soul of the Beloved.

Legacy of Rumi today

• Very widely read in the States.• The state of the Mawlawi order• Shabi Arus celebrations• 2007 UNESCO Rumi Year

Nice readingshttp://www.dar-al-masnavi.org

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