Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi
A lifetime without Love is of no account
Love is the Water of Life
Drink it down with heart and soul!
~Rumi
Jalaluddin Rumi, stands as one of the great spiritual masters and poetic geniuses in the history of mankind. Over the past two decades, many westerners have discovered his work. Now the great founder of the Mevlevi Sufi order is frequently quoted by Christians, Hindus and Buddhists alike—and by many in such non-religious arenas as government and academics. In fact, he is embraced as a universal sage and revered as one who transcended the constraints of his own time and culture. Though he soared beyond the limits of conventional religiosity, Rumi remained devoted to the Quranic revelation. He taught that God can be found in many ways, that the essence of all religions leads to God.
“[God said:] I have a form and image for each of My servants.
Whatever each of them imagines Me to be, that I am.
I am bound to images. O, My servants, cleanse your thoughts, for they are my dwelling places.
Now try yourself and see what is more beneficial to you – weeping, laughter, fasting, prayer, or retreat.
Adopt whichever of these suits you best and causes you to advance more.”
Jalaluddin (later to be called Rumi) was born in Afghanistan on September 30, 1207 to a family of learned theologians and jurists. To escape the Mongol armies, his family traveled throughout the Muslim lands, making a pilgrimage to Mecca, with a stop along the way at Nishapur. There, legend has it, the young Jelaluddin was blessed by the great Persian Sufi, Attar, who predicted that, “This boy will open the gate in the heart of Love.” The boy also met the great Spanish Sufi, Ibn Arabi. When Arabi saw Rumi, who was walking behind his father, he exclaimed, “Glory be to God, an ocean is walking behind a lake.”
Rumi’s family finally settled in Konya, Anatolia (Turkey). In 1231, Rumi succeeded his father as a professor in religious sciences. He led a normal academic life until, in 1244, he met a wandering dervish “wrapped in coarse black felt.” Shams (meaning “Sun”) had been traveling throughout the land searching and praying for someone who could “endure my company.” A voice came to him saying, “ The one you seek is Jalaluddin of Konya.”
Many accounts have been given of their first meeting. According to one, Shams was seated at the gate of an inn when the learned professor walked by. Shams arose and addressed Rumi with a question: “Tell me, was Muhammad the greater servant of God or Bayazid Bistami?” Rumi replied, “Of course, Muhammad was the greater.” Shams asked, “Then how is it that Muhammad said, ‘We have not known Thee as Thou ought to be known,’ whereas Bayazid said, ‘Glory unto me. How great is my glory?’” When the professor heard the depth from which this question came, he fainted and fell to the ground. When Rumi was finally able to answer, he said: “Bayazid’s thirst was quenched after one drink, and he boasted of being satiated, and the jar of his comprehension was filled with that portion…. As for Muhammad, he kept asking to be given more to drink. His thirst was in his thirst…[Quran 94:1] Therefore, he would talk of thirst, and everyday he grew in asking God to allow him to come closer. Of these two claims, the claim of Muhammad is greater. As for Bayazid, he thought he was complete when he arrived at God, and he did not seek more. But Muhammad, peace be upon him, saw more every day, and went further and further. Day by day, even hour by hour, he would see more and more of the divine lights, majesty, power and wisdom. It is on this account that he said, ‘We have not known Thee as Thou ought to be known.’” At that moment, Shams uttered a cry and fainted.
After this initial contact, Rumi and Shams became inseparable friends, merging as one in the fatherhood of God. Their meeting was of two beings, each reflecting the divine for the other—as in a saying of the Prophet Muhammad, “The believer is the mirror of the believer.” The two men would talk for days at a time without any need for physical necessities. They were lost in a realm of pure conversation and God-consciousness, experiencing the ecstasy spoken of by the Sufis.
In time, Rumi’s students grew jealous and felt neglected due to the amount of time he spent with Shams. They could not understand what the two God-intoxicated men did for 101 consecutive days, days that left them radiant and surrounded by a deep aura of peace. Seeing their distress, Shams disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared.
During the period of separation and longing, Rumi began his mystical transformation. He practiced a Sufi method called zikr, the repetition of God’s name—similar to namasmarana which is stressed so much in Swami’s teachings. The constant repetition of the zikr carried Rumi closer and closer to God. He slept little, passing his days and nights in the worship of God. He could trace a man’s past and read his future just by being in his presence. By the power of the constant repetition of the zikr, he was able to heal people of many physical ailments. Simply being in Rumi’s presence made people feel peaceful. One day, he passed the house of a goldsmith. He heard the pounding of the hammers on the gold, and it sounded like “Allah, Allah” to him. Suddenly, every sound he heard became God’s name and he began to whirl in ecstasy in the middle of the street. This was the beginning of the Mevlevi Sufi order, known as the whirling dervishes.
At last Rumi located Shams in Damascus and sent his son to bring him back. When the two friends met for the second time, they fell at each others feet, so that no one could tell which was the disciple and which the beloved. Their long conversations began at once. Once again, many people around them felt neglected and jealous. One night, as the two were talking, someone called Shams to the back door. He went out and was never seen again. He was probably murdered; if so, Shams literally gave his life for the privilege of the mysterious friendship.
Rumi went searching for his friend. But, finally he realized an important truth:
Why should I seek? I am the same as he.
His essence speaks through me.
I have been looking for my self!
Rumi’s love found expression in a huge collection of writing—odes, verses and discourses, written to introduce his disciples to metaphysics. In his work, Rumi expresses a clear and powerful voice of Divine love, a love experienced in human terms, but completely grounded in God. He awakens us to the fact that not only is God the beloved of human beings, but that human beings are the beloved of God.
Rumi died on December 17, 1273. Men of five faiths followed his bier. That date, named Sebul Arus (Night of Union), has been kept ever since as a festival by the Mevlevi dervishes.
~Kaleem Ahmad
New York, USA
