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Maulana Rumi, RA

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Mazarae Maulana Jalauddin, Rumi, RA -- Konya Turkey.

( Maulana Muhammed Jalaluddin Rumi, RA, Ghus ul Azam
Piranae Peer Shaikh Abdul Qadar Jilina, RA, Khawaja Moinuddin
Hasan Chishti Sanjari Ajmeri, RA Muhammed Ali Ibne Arabi, RA
and Farid o ddin Attar, RA, were contemporaries. )

Maulana Muhammed Jalaluddin Rumi, known as one of the
greatest mystic poets of Islam. He was born in Balkh, Mazare
Sharif ( present-day Afghanistan ), on September 30, 1207 CE, to a
family of well-known mystics and scholars. His full name was
Jalaluddin Mohammed but he became known as 'Rumi' - meaning
from Rome - because his father Baha-uddin Balad later moved to
Anatolia, Tuekey; once the base of the eastern Roman empire, in
the wake of the Mongol invasion in 1219. ( The Mongols destroyed
Balkh in 1220 and went on to sack Baghdad in 1258, ending the
Abbasid khilafah. ) Baha-uddin claimed direct descent from
Hadhrat Abu Bakr, the first Khalifah of Islam.

Maulana Rumi's first teacher was his father, but he was also
greatly impressed by Shams Tabrizi, RA, whose shrine is close to
the Maulana's in Konya. Where the family finally settled after
pilgrimage to Makkah and stays in Arzanjan, a small town in
Armenia, and Syria. The family's relocation to Konya was made
through the request of the Seljuq king, who had made the city his
capital.

When Baha-uddin moved to Laranda, a small town 35 miles
south-east of Konya, he arranged for Jalaluddin, now 18, to marry
Gauhar Khatun, daughter of one Lala of Samarqand, most
probably a member of the travelling party. Of this union was born
a son named Sultan Walid, who later composed his father's poetic
biography, probably compiled his scattered discourses, and
established a school to spread his father's teachings.

Maulana Rumi travelled far and wide, including to Aleppo and
Damascus, to study but Konya remained his permanent abode,
and it was there that he died on December 17, 1273. His
mausoleum is built in the garden presented to his father by the
Seljuq king Kai-Qubad I ( reigned 1219-1236 ) whose invitation
brought Baha uddin to the city in the first place.

Next to the mausoleum, there is a mosque built by the Ottoman
prince Selim, who was an ardent admirer of the Mevlana.

Visitors to the shrine enter through the main gate. No one,
however, is permitted to touch the grave, a chain fence acting as a
barrier, is erected for this purpose.

Next to the shrine, in two adjacent halls, is a museum where a
number of items belonging to the great mystic are on display. The
halls once served as training centres for the whirling dervishes but
after the rise of Kemalism ( Mustafa Kemal Pasha ), in Turkey all
such institutions were shut down. The mausoleum too was closed
to the public in 1924 but reopened later in 1927.

"The surrounding halls and annexe were turned into a museum,"
according to a historian at the shrine.

Followers of the Maulana can be found in all parts of Turkey as
well as the neighbouring countries. Each year followers converge
on the mausoleum in large numbers in month of May and
December to perform their famous whirling dance, circling from
right to left to commemorate the dance performed by the Maulana
himself. The main event occurs during December 10 to 17, and
climaxes on the last night, which is the date when Maulana Rumi
took his last breath.

His followers call it the 'wedding night,' that is when Maulana
Rumi was married to eternal life. The May festivities mark the
arrival of the Maulana into the city.

The whirl is completed in four circles. The first symbolises the
vision of Allah ( God ); the second the greatness of Allah ( God );
the third the level of knowledge one must attain after entering the
domain of the Sufis, and finally, the last circle symbolises the
coming together in the presence of Allah ( God ).

The museum exhibits a large number of items associated with the
Maulana's life. They include silver keys, copies of the noble
Qur'an, the divan of Haifa, and lamps and robes used by the
Maulana. There also a number of prayer-sheets ( rugs ). A large
book containing the Mesnevi of the Maulana, hand-written by
Hasan Shirazi, is displayed in the hall. A number of the Maulana's
works are also on display in the museum. These include:

the Mesnevi,
Divan-e Kabir,
Ruba'iet,
Mecalis-e Seba,
Mektubat
and Fih-i-ma-Fih.

There are also a number of portraits and wax statues of the
Maulana shown in his now-famous dress performing the whirling
dance within the shrine complex.

The fundamental teaching of the Maulana was the unification of
the mind and the heart. His perception of mysticism differs from
others in that he was a moralist and a reformer. He advocated
these principles throughout his life. He writes: "Without
demolishing religious schools (madrassahs) and minarets and
without abandoning the beliefs and ideas of the medieval age,
restriction in thoughts and pains in conscience will not end.
Without understanding that unbelief is a kind of religion, and that
conservative religious belief a kind of disbelief, and without
showing tolerance to opposite ideas, one cannot succeed. Those
who look for the truth will accomplish the mission."

According to the Maulana, man is the finest creation of Allah,
echoing the Qur'anic ayah that "Allah has created insan in the best
of moulds" (95:04); he even considers man a part of Him in the
mystical sense. All men must, therefore, be respected. A person
who reaches the truth and spiritual perfection directs his attention
to universalism rather than individualism. He need not abandon
worldly matters but must not consider them an end in themselves.
He insisted that priority to human love is a must to achieve this
goal.

The life and works of Maulana Rumi clearly portray the figure of a
great literary man, jurisprudent, preacher, a good teacher and a
thorough religious leader whose works had attained the level of
enlightenment by obtaining the prevailing Islamic and mystical
knowledge in the East and the West - in his life time.

( The tomb; interior of the holy shrine )

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Rumi's Poems:

L O V E

Love has a hundred forms of pride and disdain,
and is gained by a hundred means of persuasion.
Since Love is loyal, it purchases one who is loyal:
it has no interest in a disloyal companion.
The human being resembles a tree; its root is a covenant with God:
that root must be cherished with all one's might.
A weak covenant is a rotten root, without grace or fruit.
Though the boughs and leaves of the date palm are green,
greenness brings no benefit if the root is corrupt.
If a branch is without green leaves, yet has a good root,
a hundred leaves will put forth their hands in the end. - (Rumi)

BURNING HEART

My heart is burning with love
All can see this flame
My heart is pulsing with passion
like waves on an ocean
my friends have become strangers
and I'm surrounded by enemies
But I'm free as the wind
no longer hurt by those who reproach me
I'm at home wherever I am
And in the room of lovers
I can see with closed eyes
the beauty that dances
Behind the veils
intoxicated with love
I too dance the rhythm
of this moving world
I have lost my senses
in my world of lovers - ( Rumi )

DEFEATED LOVE

The sky was lit
by the splendor of the moon
So powerful
I fell to the ground
Your love
has made me sure
I am ready to forsake
this worldly life
and surrender
to the magnificence
of your Being - ( Rumi )

DO YOU LOVE ME?

A lover asked his beloved,
Do you love yourself more
than you love me?
The beloved replied,
I have died to myself
and I live for you.
I've disappeared from myself
and my attributes.
I am present only for you.
I have forgotten all my learning,
but from knowing you
I have become a scholar.
I have lost all my strength,
but from your power
I am able.
If I love myself
I love you.
If I love you
I love myself. - ( Rumi )

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