Rumi
Jalah al-din Rumi was a 13th-century Sufi poet who founded the whirling dervishes, whose rites include music, a practice unusual among Muslims. Rumi is also known as Mawlana (our master). He was born in Afghanistan in 1207, and when the Mongols invaded in 1220, his father moved the family to Syria. They settled eventually in Konya (Iconium) in Anatolia. When Rumi's father died in 1231, Rumi assumed his post as teacher of theology and kept it until the end of his life in 1273. He had already begun his study of mystical poetry, and he eventually devoted himself to mystical theology. The three great influences on Rumi's verse and thought were his friends, Shams Tabriz, a dervish; Salah al-din, a goldsmith; and Husan al-din Chelebi, a disciple. Rumi's major works include the poems, Divan-i Shams-i Tabriz and Mathnavi-yi ma`nawi; and a collection of table talks, Fihi ma fihi (What is Within is Within). A collection of letters also exists. Some scholars consider Rumi to have been a neo-Platonist or a mystic whose work and experience are closer to those of Christian mystics than to Muslim mystics.
Karen Rae Keck
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