Shams & Rumi

Rumi:

Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhi, also known as Mowlavi, Mowlana, or Rumi (in the West) was born in the city of Balkh (in Greater Iran, modern-day Afghanistan) on September 30, 1207. He died in the city of Konya (in Greater Iran, modern-day Turkey) on December 17, 1273. 

He was a Persian-language Muslim mystic and poet (initially he was a religious scholar and jurist).

Rumi’s major works include the Masnavi (the Masnavi-e-Ma’navi or the Spiritual Couplets), the Divan-e Kabir (Great Work) or Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi, the Fihi ma Fihi (In It What Is In It), and other writings. 

He was a religious scholar and a Muslim. 

His main ideas consisted of divine love, theism, ideationalism, true happiness, mysticism vis-a-vis religion, gist vis-a-vis surface, esoteric vis-a-vis exoteric, unity vis-a-vis plurality, meaning vis-a-vis form, whole vis-a-vis part, and silence vis-a-vis the hustle and bustle of globalism.

He taught his ideas through literature especially poetry, arts especially music, sama whirling dance, and education.

He was mainly influenced by the divine prophets, Attar, Sanai, and Shams-e Tabrizi.

Biography: 

1-From Balkh to Konya (since childhood until the immigration) 

Rumi was born in the city of Balkh (in Greater Iran) on September 30, 1207. His father, Baha-aldin, also known as Sultan al-Olama (the Sultan of Scholars) was one of the greatest scholars and Sufis of the time, and this rich heritage paved the initial way for Rumi. His childhood coincided with the invasion of the Mongols. This great threat and perhaps other reasons forced them to immigrate to Konya (Anatolia). Mowlana is known as Rumi in the West because Anatolia was known as Rome at the time.

2-Before meeting Shams (high-ranking and popular scholar)

In addition to his father, Rumi was also religiously and ascetically trained by Burhanuddin Tirmizi to become one of the prominent scholars of the time. Rumi’s mastery of religious sciences was such that, in his youth, he ascended the pulpit, and his listeners, mostly young and even those older than himself, benefited from his knowledge.

3-After meeting Shams (transforming from a religious scholar into a mystic and a sudden shifting of his world-view)

The turning point in Rumi’s life was his meeting with Shams-e Tabrizi at the age of 38. This acquaintance created a revolution in Rumi’s soul and led him from religious jurisprudence and philosophy to mysticism and love.

4-After meeting Shams (the culmination of maturity and mysticism)

5-Death and afterwards

Religion:

Rumi was raised in an environment where the religion of the people was Sunni Islam, but he did not limit himself to any particular religion, and his mystical tendencies went beyond these boundaries.

Works:

Rumi’s works represent a mystic encyclopedia in the Persian language.

Masnavi-e-Ma’navi, the most famous work of Rumi, was written in 6 books, comprising around 26000 couplets.

Divan-e Kabir (Great Work) or Divan-e Sham-e Tabrizi was Rumi’s most beautiful work and represented the peak of his passion and restlessness. 

Effect of Rumi on the Persian and Global mysticism:

In sum, Rumi culminated the literary mysticism. 

Final Words: 

No matter how hard we can immerse ourselves in the ocean of this mystic’s works, we will never reach its depth, and no matter how high we can soar on the heights of his thoughts, we will never reach his intellectual peak. He is not only a great heir to the Persian language, but his reed’s voice is a messenger of love and solidarity for all humanity.

Shams-e-Tabrizi:

Name: Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Malekdad-e Tabrizi, also known as Shams al-Din Tabrizi or Shams-e Tabrizi

Nickname: Shams, Shams al-Din

Place of Birth: Tabriz (modern-day Iran)

Date of Birth: 1182 AD

Place of Death: Khoy (modern-day Iran)

Works: Essays of Shams

Biography: 

Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Malekdad-e Tabrizi, also known as Shams al-Din Tabrizi or Shams-e Tabrizi is one of the most famous mystics in the history of Persian literary and mystical tradition. He is considered Rumi’s spiritual catalyst and a great mystic. Rumi considered himself indebted to him until the end of his life, so much so that he named his most precious work (in terms of both quantity and quality) in his honor and memory (Divan-e Shams). History shows that he was a frequent traveler, a loner, somewhat hot-tempered, and a day laborer. Shams was not a scholar like Rumi, but what made Rumi become his disciple was his inner purity and great spirit. Shams mentions in an essay of the Essays of Shams that he had been searching for a spiritual companion for years, someone who would understand his deep teachings and the divine prophets. Finally, this search led him to Konya in 1244 AD, and a wonderful meeting took place between him and Rumi. This meeting separated Rumi from jurisprudence, philosophy, preaching, and teaching, and plunged him into a sea of ​​love and passion.

Separation from Rumi:

Shams was with Rumi for less than 2 years. His first absence was short, and with Rumi’s repeated messages and the mediation of his eldest son Sultan Walad, Shams returned to Konya. But the hatred between Rumi’s disciples and youngest son intensified again, and Shams left Konya for the second and last time without warning, and his fate became one of the greatest mysteries in the history of Persian literature.

Legacy: 

Shams Tabrizi’s main legacy is the valuable book “Essays of Shams.” Shams did not write a book himself due to his neglect of recording his own words, as he himself says: “I have never had the habit of writing; because I do not write down the words, they remain in me and change me every moment”.

Summary:

Rumi saw Shams as a fish that, in the night and darkness of the world, brought him the light of God’s sun and illuminated his night to some extent with moonlight. He saw him as a mirror in which he could see himself. Shams became immortal in history not with his poems, but with the profound impact he had on the soul of Rumi, this great mystic.