Rumi - The Most Famous Sufi Poet in the World

there is no doubt that on a global level the most famous Sufi in the world or the person that most people associate with Sufism is the Persian Mystic and poet jalala Deen Rumi his poetry has been translated into numerous languages and he has been one of the best selling poets in all of North America and Europe even 800 years after he lived his verses include themes of love and heartbreak entertaining stories and profound insights that touch people worldwide even today at the same time Rumi is also a greatly misunderstood figure many people know that he was a so-called Sufi that he belonged to the tradition known as Sufism and this is true but what does this actually mean fewer still are aware of the fact that he was a devoted Muslim whose poetry is infused with and can really only be properly understood through the context of his Islamic intellectual framework a lot of the Poetry of Rumi that has become so famous through you know quotes on Instagram post or all over the Internet are often based on questionable translations that will remove all the Islamic context and Islamic references and his poetry and a lot of the quotes that we see on on the internet also just upright false they're not by Rumi at all but that isn't to say that roommate doesn't have Universal appeal which he certainly does his works are incredibly beautiful regardless of your background but we do ourselves a disservice when we neglect to understand the actual context in which he writes the symbolism that he uses and what his colorful words are actually pointing to on a broader level Rumi is one of the most popular and influential Sufi writers in history even in the Islamic world so let's take a few minutes to try to get to know this giant of mystical and Persian literature who was Rumi really what was the historical context in which he lived and worked and how can we get a better and more nuanced understanding of his philosophy and his his world view so that we can better appreciate the literary masterpieces that he composed [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you foreign was born in the year 1207 in the region known as Horizon his nispah or the title El belgi seems to indicate that he was from the city of belch in particular and while it is true that his father and family had a connection with the city of belch it seems possible that Rumi himself was born and spent his first years in a city called Vach in modern Tajikistan where his parents resided for a couple of years this region was part of the larger Persian cultural sphere and Rumi and his family Thus Spoke Persian as their native language and took part in that cultural context you could say his father Baha Adin valad was a religious scholar of relative Renown and seems to have worked essentially as a preacher and teacher of some of the religious Sciences such as firk or Islamic jurisprudence Baha Deen and his family followed the hanafi school of Islamic law a tradition that his son Rumi would also inherit later on this together with the Shafi School were the most prominent in this region at the time and the hanafi school is today the largest of all the four major schools as well as often being considered the most quote unquote liberal from his surviving writing such as the Mahadev as well as from secondary accounts it also becomes clear that baja Deen was a Mystic involved with Sufism and having ecstatic Visionary experiences of the Divine and on account of both of these aspects of his career being a teacher of exoteric Sciences but also a Sufi Sheikh of sorts he had a modest group of followers or students that often accompanied him this already shows that one common narrative about Rumi's life is not entirely accurate it's often claimed that Rumi was an entirely exoterically oriented formalistic Muslim scholar until he met Shem satabrizi after which point he becomes an ecstatic Mystic like a complete 180 turnaround this was not the case Rumi was very much aware of mysticism and Sufism it was all around him as he grew up his father was a Mystic all the kind of people around him were sufis and Mystics he would have been deeply immersed at least on a surface level that that doesn't make sense it would have been deeply involved or deeply aware of the Sufi tradition as it was all around him even in his own family so this is important remember already one of those common misconceptions about Rumi that we have to dispel in any case the family including the young jalaladin seems to have eventually moved to Samarkand where bahayadin ran into some trouble as he would criticize and kind of get into a beef with the ruling Elite for being morally and religiously corrupt and only a few years later they made another an even more significant move this time leaving the East for good probably around the year 1217 when jalaladin would have been around 10 years old they left Samarkand and Horizon to travel to the west and never to return there are various theories and accounts as to why they made this sudden move a popular version is that baja Deen and his family saw the looming threat of the Mongol armies that were getting closer and closer and chose to leave before that would become an issue this is possible but the Mongol invasion was still a few years away and it would have been hard to know beforehand that such an invasion was in fact going to happen so another theory is that Deen's increasingly bad relationship with the ruling Shah Dynasty actually forced him to leave due to these political circumstances it's hard to say exactly what happened but what we do know for sure is that parts of his family including jalaladin and a group of followers did indeed leave the region to travel to the Islamic heartlands in the West they visited Bhagavad for a while they went on a pilgrimage to Mecca to perform the the Hajj one of the pillars of the Islamic religion they might have stayed in Syria for a while and even settled for a couple of years in a city called larende from around the year 1221. it's here that jalaladin came of age got married and had his first children including Sultan valad who would take over after his father's death and was instrumental in the founding of the melody order but it was in another place that the family and of course Rumi would find their permanent home when possibly on the invitation of the seljuk ruler Allah they moved to the city of Konya in what is today turkey this is possibly in the year 1228. this was a good place to be being a major political and cultural center of the seljuk Empire and it allowed baha'adin to establish himself as a pretty prominent religious Authority and teacher now when we read the hegeographies about murumi and his life his father bahadin is portrayed as a world-renowned religious scholar the quote King of the ulama who was sought by people from all over the Islamic world for his expertise and questions of hanafi law among other things the historical record does not really support this idea though and is likely an exaggeration after the fact he was a religious authority to be sure he had a group of followers and he managed to become quite popular and relatively prominent in cornea in the last years of his life but probably nowhere near the kind of portrayal and Renown that we find in the hagiographies he taught in a prominent madrasa in Konya and had the authority to issue fatwas or legal opinions on matters of Law and religion but one of the reasons that they settled in Konya rather than in one of the more major cities associated with Islamic scholarships such as Baghdad Damascus and Cairo is probably that he couldn't really get any employment there this would have required a much more accomplished and established renowned person Konya on the other hand was more on the borders of the Islamic empire it was a significant center of the seljuk Empire but nothing like Baghdad in terms of scholarship Anatolia was a place that had recently been conquered and much of the population were either still non-muslims altogether or recently converted Muslims that didn't know much about the details of its practices and ideas this in other words was a great place for someone like Baha Adin to be in order to teach religion in a place where the demand was high especially since he was also a Mystic and Incorporated the Sufi aspects into his religious teaching and preaching something that was rather popular and sought after in that region at the time as we all know this would also be a good place for his son to only a few years later become an even more prominent scholar and and figure than his father ever was and it is indeed because of his association with with Konya and in this larger region that Rumi is known as Rumi in the Islamic world it was either known as this region that he was from originally or simply as Maulana which means our master mevlana in Turkish there is some early references to him being given the name or being referred to by the name mawlana Rumi and why is this where does this name come from because it does have its origins in the Islamic tradition and in the medley order that followed him even though it wasn't as common as it is today and it is essentially because he was associated with this region cornea and Anatolia this region was known as room which means Rome basically because this place had been ruled by the Byzantine Empire the Eastern Roman Empire so this was considered uh the you know part of the wider region of Rome or Rome so jalaladin Rumi essentially means jalaladin the Roman right or the one from Rome or from Rome which is really interesting valad the father of jalaladin Rumi unfortunately passed away only about two years after they arrived in Konya either in 12 30 or 12 31. himself would have been around 25 years old at this point and while apparently already a respected teacher and preacher of sorts he was not old enough to take over all of his father's previous responsibilities but just in time one of Baha adin's older close students from the balc region arrived in Konya this was at this point an ecstatic Sufi master and family friend who took jalaladin under his wing for the remainder of burhanadin's Life Rumi would remain his student and considered him his Sheikh purana Deen first sent Rumi to Syria to properly study the exoteric religious scientists like law and theology with renowned teachers there Rumi would spend the majority of the 1230s in Syria in places like Aleppo and Damascus a place that of course had many significant figures both Scholars and Mystics living there at the time once he returned to Konya he was a significantly learned scholar surpassing even his father in religious knowledge and it was at this point that borhana Dean started to teach Rumi the mystical Sufi path again Rumi would have of course been surrounded by a Sufism throughout his life since his father was a yusufi Sheikh and he was in the know so to say in various ways but it was under but Hannah Dean that he started traveling on the Sufi path properly over a number of years eventually becoming an accomplished Master himself he would go on several spiritual Retreats he would fast for long periods of time and all the other practices associated with Sufi training about a decade after he arrived but Hannah Dean eventually passed away around the year 1241 but at that point Rumi's training was already complete and he would thus start his career properly as an increasingly famous and renowned scholar and Mystic Rumi was an expert in hanafi Islamic law and he would give fatwas or legal opinions on different matters he would also teach other students and he gained a very favorable reputation combining an expertise in exoteric religious Sciences as well as his role as a Sufi master and Sheikh Rumi eventually surpassed his father in reputation and renown just like his father he was a fantastic preacher and was very popular among the common people both himself and other people at the time agreed that Rumi was especially skilled at attracting people of different religious backgrounds particularly Christians for some reason and through his preaching and teaching he would often lead them to convert to Islam in other words Rumi was essentially on top of the world at this time he was one of the most renowned and popular scholars in Konya both as a teacher of Islamic law and and so on and also as a Sufi Sheikh and Mystic who was known for performing Miracles and all these self self negating and renunciate practices so again this idea of rumias as a totally exoteric you know formalistic Muslim scholar that then suddenly turns into a Mystic is not entirely accurate but there is a point to be made that he was certainly at this time a sort of public figure someone who was known as a scholar a man of book learning and and and and worldly religious knowledge so to say then as most of us know something happens something that would turn jalaladin from Balch into Rumi as we know him that something was a man called shamsadin atabrizi who arrived in Konya in November 1244 and when turned room is life upside down there are many different accounts of their first meeting each one of course more dramatic than the next Shams apparently settled in a local Inn for Rice sellers when he arrived in Konya and an early account of their meeting takes place in a pavilion right outside this Inn as Rumi and his companions were passing by one day in most accounts Shams asks a question of Rumi usually involving the famous early Sufi by Asia the bistami Shams himself in his surviving writings called the makalat describe their meeting like this quote the first thing I spoke about with him was this how is it that abuyazid did not need to follow the example of the prophet and did not say glory be to thee or we worship thee and Rumi completely understood the full implications of the problem and where it came from and where it was leading to made him inebriated on account of his purity of spirit for his Spirit was pure and cleansed and it shun within him I realized the sweetness of this question from his inebriation though I had previously been unaware of its sweetness in one of the more common versions Shams approaches Rumi as as he is walking by and he asks him a very um interesting question a very radical question you could say he says who is the better Mystic and who is the better at Sage or the Prophet Muhammad which obviously is a very loaded question a very controversial question and and and of course consciously so this is this is the whole point probably a room is a student or followers the ones around him would have been shocked by this question but Rumi is intrigued and he actually answers the question he says he says that the prophet Muhammad is is the superior Mystic or the superior man uh shams then replies back and he says how come then exclaimed subhani by this famous ecstatic utterance by bastami which means glory be to me he said to have said this in a sort of ecstatic moment of annihilation in God he said subhani glory be to me how come bistami says that whereas Muhammad says glory be to thee he speaks of God and in second person uh so how come that Muhammad is the superior person and then which is a good point of course Rumi then answers something to the effect that bistami was in fact Limited in his understanding and had misconstrued that limit as having actually reached God whereas Muhammad who had gone much further on the path had realized that this journey and this this this way to God was was eternal and much longer and thus he spoke about God in a different way with and then the second person rather than the first person so this is a higher station than bistami it's a really fascinating encounter and it it had an incredibly strong impact on both Rumi and Shams it becomes the starting point for a very significant and long spiritual relationship indeed in some ways this meeting between Rumi and Shams is one of the most significant moments in religious and literary history as two spiritual Giants meet for the first time and begin a relationship that would lead to some of the greatest poetry in history as well as of course having major effects on the future of not only Sufism and Islam but the entire Islamic world and Beyond this is one of the great love stories of the world not necessarily romantic or physical love but a spiritual one Rumi and Shams are inseparable from this moment on some Reports say that they would shut themselves into a room for weeks or months in deep spiritual discussion Rumi goes from being a public scholar and teacher to a kind of recluse from a man of books and conceptual learning to an ecstatic and intoxicated Mystic Rumi is reported by shamstrev said quote since I've become acquainted with you these books have become lifeless in my eyes it is after the arrival of Shams that the roomy discovers the power of music as a spiritual practice in the form known as Sama a Sufi practice that stem backed many centuries Shams Rumi and his disciples would hold such rituals of audition regularly and it became a significant aspect of his mysticism Rumi's love for music as a spiritual practice is widely known and famous and he would often move to the music in a kind of worlding and meditative motion it often said it was spin around with his arms extended The Scholar Franklin D Lewis says quote Sama was an activity for the true men of God which liberated Rumi from the austere ways of self-renunciation and gave him a joyous vehicle for expressing his mystical rapture it even seems that Rumi was himself a musician and that he played the rabab a string instrument that is playing with a bow that still survives today actually he mentions that above in many of his poems in a loving way and his son Sultan balad even wrote a poem called the rabab name which mirrors Rumi's own the song of the read in a really interesting kind of way and this love of music and the particular kind of sama and dance that Rumi shems and the disciples would perform was to have a great effect on the medley order later on too it is also in this period that Rumi very significantly starts to compose poetry for the first time in many ways the reason Rumi wrote poetry was to relay the teachings of shems as we saw earlier Rumi was exceptionally skilled at communicating with the Common People whereas shem's ecstatic teachings were hard for people to grasp so urumi saw his mission as one where he would use those oratorian literary skills to convey the truths of shems to be the Moon that reflected the light of the Sun so to say Rumi says in a poem quote shamsi tabris through your son we shine just like the Moon this all being a pun on the fact that the name Shams in Arabic literally means Sun s himself says quote this mawlana is like Moonlight the eye cannot take in the son of my being but he can't take in the Moon the extreme brightness of the Rays make the eye unable to tolerate the Sun the moon cannot reach the sun unless the Sun reaches out to the Moon indeed the great Divan of Rumi or his collection of poems was given the title Divani shems or Divan of shem's tabrizi that is the Divine of shems as the whole work is dedicated to this master and often takes on his poetic Persona the relationship between Rumi and shems is really unique and interesting in many ways Rumi took on shem's as his master a Sheikh who guided him to full absorption in God unto the utmost Stations of the mystical path but at the same time Rumi was already himself a Sufi Master when the two met and Sham seems to have also learned a lot from Rumi so in other words they were kind of some kind of spiritual Companions of a sword who lifted each other up to the heights of spiritual attainment quote my thoughts and Reflections inspired by you as though I were your phrases and expression but who was this Shams that had such a great impact on Rumi as his name suggests he was from the city of tabaris in what is today Iran but up until a few decades ago this was basically all that we knew all the the information we have are from the writings of Rumi and his disciples which basically limits us to the period after his arrival in Konya and we knew very little about his life and who he was before that that is until only a few decades ago when the actual writings of Shams was discovered which of course gives us a much broader and better picture of who he was now the common Narrative of Shams even today with all this information is that he was some sort of just wandering dervish which he was of course but in in the sense that he was sort of illiterate um just that walked around with with nothing but a prayer mat and a flute and then was possibly illiterate and had reached illumination by some sort of inspiration and experience um but when we read his actual works it becomes clear that while this vision isn't entirely wrong it's not the whole picture either because Shams seems to have been a rather well-educated man just like Rumi he would have studied the Islamic Sciences he was an expert in Islamic law although in this case he was a Shafi rather than a hanafi lag Rumi but still he would have studied deeply the religious Sciences of Islam and literature he knew the classical Sufi literature which might explain why he knew so well the story of bistami for example um so shem's was certainly a highly educated man while he was from Tabriz originally he seems to have early on traveled all around the Islamic world looking for a teacher that could sort of match his own spiritual attainments and and sort of prove himself worthy of being his master which he could never really find it seems yeah he seems to spend a significant amount of time in Damascus in Syria where he also met and spent time with sufis you know Sufi Masters and Mystics including a guy that he refers to as Sheikh Muhammad who might actually be the famous IBN Arabi although it's not entirely certain but it seems at least in my opinion it seems pretty clear that he is referring to IBN Arabi and he often praises and and talks about these Masters in a very sort of loving and appreciative way but none of them could truly sort of match him and live up to his high requirements and expectations that is of course until he arrives in Konya and meets roomy who who sort of makes all his dreams and and wishes come true they had a very close relationship for the short time that Shams was in Konya but all things weren't well indeed many of Rumi's followers developed a strong jealousy over the fact that Shams was given such a high status basically making Rumi neglect his public role as a teacher and spending time with them on top of this Shams appear to them to be just some poor dervish without nearly the scholarly prowess of their Master how could he possibly deserve all this praise and treatment and many of the disciples seem to have made these feelings known some accounts even state that they might have shed up threatened Champs with violence if he didn't believe whatever reason one day Shams is suddenly gone he had left cornea behind throwing Rumi into complete despair he stopped composing poetry he became an even more reclusive person than before and was generally just very distraught his followers realized that things had pretty much backfired instead of bringing their Master back to them The Disappearance of shems only made things worse eventually they got word that Shams had gone to Damascus and Rumi sent his son Sultan balad on a mission to retrieve him which he did shems once again returns to Konya things are much better this time they celebrate by holding Samar sessions and Rumi once again composes poetry but All Things Must Pass as they say and only about a year later Shams disappears once again but this time for good Rumi sends several missions to find him in Syria and other places but no one could find a single trace of him eventually Rumi had to give up and realize that his son was gone and that he now had to find that Light Within himself instead of an inexternal person his spiritual training was in a way finally complete there are many different accounts about what happened to shem's one famous example told in the in the chronicle of afflecki for example states that the followers of Rumi became jealous once again and that this time they went so far as to actually murder shems um in some accounts it's even stated that one of Rumi's own Sons Allah Adin was a key figure in this plot to murder shems another version however is less dramatic Shams seems to have expressed a desire to leave shortly before disappearing aspect of the Sufi path is when the student has to leave the Sheikh or Master behind and complete his training on his own in this case though Rumi couldn't really leave because he had so many responsibilities as a teacher in Konya so Shams might have decided to instead leave Rumi as the last part of his teaching we really don't know what happened to Shams some claim that he went back to Tabriz and that he died there a few years later there is actually a claim or a place it's claimed that he died in a place called hoi in Iran and there's actually kind of Mausoleum or a supposed burial place and a tomb for Shams there on the other hand there's also some that claim that sham's body actually lies in cornea because you know following this idea that he was murdered it is said that that the the murderers threw shemp's body into a well in Konya and that his body is still there there's I believe there's a kind of even a kind of Monument where his body might be so there are disagreements about what happened to to Shams at the end of the day we simply don't know it's a mystery and we will probably never know for sure what we do know for sure though is the incredible impact that Shams had on Rumi from the time of shams's disappearance in 1247 or 12 48 Lumi would sort of really come into his own he would take on this role as as the incredibly uh powerful Mystic that he is known for today Shams had turned him from a mystically oriented scholar to an ecstatic lover he's following in Konya the proto-mevlevies in other words grew to a significant size and he would have he had incredible power even on a kind of semi-political level it's also after this final disappearance of Shams that Rumi composes the majority of the Poetry that we all know and love to The Wider World Rumi is of course famous as one of the greatest love poets in history and his verse is undeniably magnificent he was greatly influenced by earlier Persians to be poets such as sana'i and fariduddin atar the author of the famous Conference of the birds indeed there is even a famous story that Rumi met a Todd as a young boy when he and his father was traveling west from Balch but this is most likely more of a legendary story than historical fact in any case Roma's literary output is very impressive not only taking inspiration from these earlier poets but also being very original and unique himself he truly had a remarkable skill at conveying the sometimes complex teachings of Islam and Sufism to a general audience and his words are able to touch people regardless of their cultural or religious background this was a very useful skill in Konya at the time with a large non-muslim population as well as recent converts with limited knowledge of the religion even during his own lifetime Rumi was not just popular and renowned among his fellow Muslims but also by Christians and Jews living in the region at the time in terms of his poetry there are two major Works to consider the first is his Devon or diwan that we've already mentioned before going on the titles like the Divani shems the Divan of Shem satabrizi or the Divani Kabir the great Devon now a diwan or Devon in Persian isn't necessarily A coherent work per se but it's a full collection of poetry in other words this is a work that contains all or most of Rumi's individual poems in various Styles and forms as the title suggests the work as a whole is dedicated to shems and many other poems either take on the poetic Persona and voice of shems or are dedicated to praising or talking about this master often in an even surprisingly devotional tone just listen to this quote you are my sky I am the Earth dumbfounded but things you sprout from my heart each moment I am parched Earth rained down on me drops of Grace for your water makes the earth grow Rosy what does the Earth know what you sow in it you made it pregnant you know what it Bears every Adam pregnant with your Mysteries you make it writhe a while in pangs of birth what Marvel survived to birth through the world womb and I am God the call Glory To Me the Divine contains over 5 000 poems and 44 000 verses about three thousand of them are so-calleds a popular form of poetry in Persian and another 2000 are rubayat or quatrains then there are also a few clasadas and other poetic genres the language also varies with the vast majority of the poems of course being in Persian but a few were in Arabic and there are even some instances of Turkish and Greek needless to say this is an incredible collection containing some of the most famous lines of poetry in history it deals with all kinds of topics but some more Central themes such as for example love love is one of the key concepts for Rumi and it isn't for nothing that he's seen as such a great love poet but this love is more complex than many might imagine primarily when Rumi talks about love he's talking about love of God and the love that exists between God and creation a love that is the thread that keeps the cosmos together and which pulls the Mystic towards his God and to where the essential Unity of reality now that isn't to say that worldly love such as love between spouses is irrelevant to this poetry poets like Rumi don't make a clear distinction between metaphysical or Divine love and human love It's All the Same Love human love becomes like a manifestation or expression of the more Universal Divine love that is at the core of his message so his poetry can often be read in different ways and on different levels of meaning all of which are often true at the same time which is what makes his poetry so accessible but the second major poetic work and probably the one that is the most renowned worldwide is a more coherent and unified one it's an epic narrative poem called the masnavi IMA Navi often known under the shorter title the masnavi the full title means something like spiritual couplets the word masnavi simply being the name of the particular poetic style or form that it's written in which is known as in Arabic and this is essentially just rhyming couplets it's the same poetic form that Ataris Conference of the birds was written in among many other famous poems at the time but it goes to show just how influential and loved Rumi's poem is that it is universally known as the masnavi indeed this work has been so celebrated in the Muslim world to the point that has even been called the Quran in Persian and it is in some ways a commentary on the Quran or on the general teachings of Islam as understood through Rumi's Sufism it deals with all kinds of religious and spiritual topics from law to Theology and spiritual practice but through accessible poetry in the form of stories fables and many other fascinating and entertaining yet of course profound narratives and sections the masnavi was composed sometime during the last 10 or so years of roomy's life from around 1260 to 1273. it was composed at the request of roomies at the time senior disciple and successor joseon Celebi who was also present during the actual composing itself Rumi and her samadin would sit together Rumi would recite the poetry and hosama Deen would write it down and then would read it back to him for many years this process went on which isn't surprising when you consider the length of the work the masnavi consists of six books with about 25 000 verses a truly epic poem and possibly one of the greatest literary achievements in history but like we said Rumi was not just a poet but also a famous and loved preacher and there are prose Works attributed to him as well particular there is a work entitled The fihi mafihi which essentially means something like in it what is in it and this is a collection of sermons or discourses of Rumi delivered to his students and then written down while not as famous as his poetry this is still a very significant work and features important details about his teachings and biography in a more straightforward prowse form we can tell just from reading these discourses even in Translation that he must have been quite a compelling speaker but what are all those teachings that he conveyed in his poetry what is the philosophy of Rumi the teachings and wisdoms that we find and works like the Devon or the masnavi and which have captivated so many people worldwide in many ways Rumi represents a certain flavor of Sufism that emphasizes a particular concept that of love we already talked about this a bit earlier but love is indeed one of the most recurring and important themes in the poetry and the practice of Islam that he represents this love as we saw is both on a practical mystical and even metaphysical level he was a Sufi and so his focus is on many of those common and familiar Sufi themes that we have explored in earlier episodes the Sufi path is one of ascending stations where you are Guided by a Sheikh or Master on gradually higher levels of intimacy with God eventually on the highest level the Mystic reaches what is known as annihilation in God where the person becomes completely effaced in the reality of the Divine and experiences the true Oneness of reality or of God this is what is sought by the Sufi and is described in so many of the poems quote you are your own shadow become annihilated in the Rays of the Sun how long will you look at your shadow look also at his light or quote the world is snow and ice and thou art the burning summer no trace of it remains O King when thy traces appear the realization of this Oneness and a direct experience of God is essentially hindered by a single thing the Neffs often translated as ego or self it is our idea and attachment to the idea of a separate individual self and on the cravings and wants that results from that self that keeps us from Experiencing God and of uniting with God or rather of realizing that essential Oneness that is there all along this idea of the nafs and the path to fight against and annihilate it is a key theme in Rumi he even identifies the nafs with Iblis or the devil and even with hell itself in his discourses Rumi explains it like this quote with God there is no room for two egos you say I and he says I in order for this Duality to disappear either you must die for him or he for you it is not possible however for him to die either phenomenally or conceptually because he is the ever living who dieth not he is so gracious however that if it were possible he would die for you in order that The Duality might disappear since it is not possible for him to die you must die but he may be manifested to you thus eliminating The Duality the whole process of the Sufi path the fasting Retreats renunciation evicted and listening to music is to transcend this cell for ego the nephs over the course of the spiritual journey the nephs is gradually burnt away until nothing of it remains and only then can God appear True selfhood Lies in the experience of no self of being nothing at all as he said in the realm of the Divine in the realm of unity there can be no Duality no you and I but only the all-encompassing reality of the Divine room himself refers to this burning of the self when he says quote three short phrases tell the story of my life I was raw I got cooked I burned speaking about this transcending of Duality he also says quote from the beginning when I heard the story of being in love I wore up my soul heart and eyes in its path I said perhaps the lover and beloved are too but both were one and I was seeing double according to the Quran and Islamic theology we were once United in pre-existence before God's existentiating command after which multiplicity and the phenomenal World appeared thus we have become separated from God snatched away from that original state of unity which is the cause of all our suffering or rather it is our ideas and attachment to the false idea of an independent self that causes trouble and once we're able to transcend that self to forget it completely we can find the essential Oneness hiding underneath it is precisely this theme that Rumi talks about in the opening lines to the massive masnabi a section that has become famous in its own right as the song of the read and could be argued to be the most famous section of Persian poetry in history in these couplets Rumi uses the image of the Nave flute a popular instrument in the Middle East and Central Asia and its sorrowful wailing tones as a mirroring of the human Cry of Longing To Be United once again with God just as the knave fluid longs to return to the Reed bed from which it came the human longed to return to Unity to give you an idea of the beauty of this poetry I think it's worthwhile to hear it in its original Persians that we can experience the melody and rhyming the masnavi and the Poetry of Rumi in general is very musical in nature which really comes through in the original language so here are the first 18 lines of the masnavi also known as the song of the Reed read by Safa mirror with accompanying translation foreign [Music] [Music] foreign foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] Kitty Harris foreign [Music] foreign [Music] a truly remarkable piece of literature that manages to encapsulate so many of the aspects of Sufi teachings and and particularly the teachings of Rumi in a few short lines um just as the Nay is hollow on the inside to allow for the breadth of the player to to course through it so the individual person must empty himself and become Hollow on the inside become nothing become empty become nothing so that the Breath of God in this metaphor the love of God can sort of course through the person and create music equally as beautiful as the music of the Nay it's really amazing imagery Safar actually has a YouTube channel where she among other things does beautiful readings of Persian poetry and I believe she's just about to do a series on the song of the read in particular so if you're interested in that kind of stuff you should check out that channel and I will leave links to that in the description in the last 18th cuplet Ruby says that quote words must be cut short and this is another important aspect of his thoughts and that of Sufism in general this knowledge and experience of God Rumi is describing and the Mystic seeks is not a knowledge that can be put into words or understood through Concepts in this sense Rumi isn't interested in philosophy or the wisdoms that can be learned through books that kind of knowledge that is conceptual knowledge often known as in Arabic and also in Persian is severely limited and can never give us true knowledge of God instead the can of knowledge a Mystic like a Rumi seeks is something else it's something often called madifa in the tradition which is sometimes translated as Gnostic knowledge or mystical knowledge this is not knowledge learned through words but intuited or directly experienced through what's known as cash for literally unveiling the veils of Illusion of independent self and all that's acquired quote-unquote knowledge are ripped away to where nothing remains and in that darkness of annihilation one directly experiences the truth of Oneness a truth completely beyond words or concepts quotes oh Union with thee is the root of all choice for these are all forms but that is meaning or in the classic poem quote I am not me you are not you and you are not me yet I am me you are you and you are me as well with you I am such that I am in doubt whether I am you or you are me in the Sufi tradition another word is used to describe this kind of intuitive knowledge which is Valk and this literally in Arabic means tasting this is a really great word because it's sort of um it sort of captures uh the way that we can think of this kind of knowledge so just as you can never truly know what something tastes like say in another video I took the example of a piece of chocolate someone can describe chocolate to you or you know fall day you will never know truly what chocolate tastes like until you just put it in your mouth and taste it for yourself and this is what manifa or this kind of mystical knowledge is like you can never truly have this knowledge without experiencing it yourself this is that that is the whole point and that central theme of Love um and love as knowledge is another great metaphor for this because just as this knowledge this knowledge of God is is something that cannot be described or really put into words so when we when we're in love when we feel love love is is this kind of feeling this this uh this way of of being that no one can really truly put into words right it's an experience that is beyond expression and in human language in some way but we all know love when we feel it it's this obvious feeling that we all have but it's really difficult to put into words so that's why this idea of Love also as long along with support like tasting love is a really great metaphor uh and sort of a symbol for this kind of uh mystical knowledge it is love that burns away the nephs the self and there is love that gives us this true knowledge which is identical to that love in a certain sense quote The Lover's sufferings like no other suffering love is the astrolabe of God's Own Mysteries no matter whether love is of this world or of the next it steals us to that world whatever words I say to explain this love when I arrive at love I am ashamed though language gives a clear account of love it love beyond all language is the clearer the pen had gone at Breakneck speed in writing but when it came to love it split into the explaining mind sleeps like an ass in mud for Love Alone explains love and the lover love forumi also extends outward to love God is to love God's creation love your fellow human beings animals and even plants Rumi is described in the biographies as a remarkably kind and loving person and to basically everyone we even find Shams being a little concerned about just how nice Rumi was to everyone but this was part of his essential world view when we read his works the Rumi comes across as a very there's a tolerant understanding and open-minded person even towards those of other Creeds within Islam and even other religions altogether quote if you have lost heart in the path of Love flee to me without delay I am a fortress invincible this also needs to be significantly nuanced we have to remember that Rumi was a devout Muslim he performed all the practices expected of a Muslim such as the prayers and the fasting Etc and he time and time again emphasizes the importance of doing these things and of following the Islamic law as we saw he was himself an expert and Authority on hanafi law so this is hardly surprising even after he became an intoxicated loving Mystic he was still an expert on Islamic law he would still give out fatwas or legal opinions people would come to him for for answers to to questions relating to Islamic law and belief for sure he saw Islam as the only fully True Religion the Quran as the last Revelation to Mankind and Muhammad as the final prophet he also followed Sunni Islam in particular and wrote critically about shiism in some places in other words Rumi was Muslim there is really no denying or even debating this question today he has often been construed as some Universalist Mystic where religious adherence isn't important this is simply a complete misrepresentation and oversimplification of his person and teachings and is often supported by the many fake roomy quotes that are spread out all over the internet Rumi saw himself as a Muslim and Islam was to him the one true religion to be followed with that said however there is also no denying that he was what many today would refer to as tolerance of religious differences he had a certain ecumenical approach to such questions and seems to have stayed away from sectarianism as much as possible this stems partly from Rumi's strong insistence on the inner spiritual meanings and Truths Behind all religious observances the so-called Mana he often criticizes other Muslims for getting too bogged down in the formalities and observances of rituals while forgetting or neglecting their inner meanings which are the true purpose of religion outward practices are like a shell and the inner meanings are the core he uses a famous example here about the elephant standing in a dark room an analogy that seems to come from India originally multiple people enter this dark room to figure out what the object is one person touches the leg and says it's something like a tree another one grabs the trunk and says it like a snake a third one the stomach and says it's like a brick wall for instance all of the men are describing the same object but their limited perspectives mean that they also get a just a portion of the whole truth thus their conception is somewhat distorted and colored by that particular perspective similarly there is one truth of religion which many different Traditions describe in various ways none of whom can fully see the elephant for what it is but still describe it through their particular perspective in some ways each person has their own way to God and there's the intention and inner state of the worshiper that is most important without of course neglecting the outward aspect quote for hindis Hindi is for Praise of God the praise of God in Sindhi is for cindies I am not Sanctified by their laudations it's they who are made holy stewing pearls we look at neither languages nor words but at the soul and at the inner state inspecting Hearts we see if they are humble although the spoken words are not so humble one of the best examples of this idea is in another story from the masnabi about Moses and the shepherd which this earlier quote is a section from in this story Moses is walking along and sees a Shepherd in deep prayer and worship but he worships in a unique way quote O Lord my God where are you that I may become your servant that I may sue your shoes and comb your hair that I may wash your clothes and kill your lies and bring your milk to you your eminence talking about God and such anthropomorphic ways is of course unacceptable to Moses who harshly scolds the shepherd for his behavior quote you've sunk a long way down no muslim you you've turned into a heathen what Pitfall is this what blasphemy and Guff Go stuff some cotton wool into your mouth the shepherd is ashamed he apologizes and disappears into the desert but at this point God speaks to Moses and explains that is he who has acted unjustly although the prayers of the shepherd were flawed because of anthropomorphism by scolding him Moses had only taken him further away from God creating separation instead of Union Court you have repelled from us our loyal servant did you come to create a sense of union or did you come to generate division do not touch separation if you can for me the worst of all things is divorce I have consigned a way for everyone to everyone a different idiom for him it's praise for you disparagement for him it's honey for you it's poison love of God with flawed outer practice is better than no worship or love at all Moses is ashamed and returns to the shepherd who turns out to be actually doing great Having learned from The Experience becoming inspired in his despair to go beyond all these dualities and find Annihilation himself this story really encapsulates the central aspect of Rumi's teaching that it is love that is at the center of worship and of reality it is love and the state of the heart that binds the human to God and it is through love that we reach the Divine a love that is all-encompassing loving worship of God even comes before outer ritual practices it is the goal that is prioritized not the way there Rumi unlike many others in his day isn't focused on the formalities of the law but on the state of the soul and the Heart it is this that truly matters in some ways love even transcends religion and religious laws we shouldn't misunderstand this to mean a rejection of the religious law but rather that love is universal and in a state of complete loving absorption in God and in Union One transcends all multiplicity including religious divisions quotes the faith of Love is separate from all others for lovers faith and piety are God there are many religions and spiritual paths in the world and Islam is the one that will fully lead to Salvation according to Rumi but for most the goal is the same God every saint befriend and Prophet has a path but all the paths that lead to God are one or quote Beyond kufur and Islam there is a desert plane in that middle space are passions reign when the Gnostic arrives there he'll prostrate himself not quiver not Islam nor is there any space in that domain ultimately the world is a Unity truth is one regardless of sectarian divisions it is human words and Concepts that create Division and conflict quote division in mankind is born of names when names reach meaning there is harmony in such statements we can clearly see someone who is disinterested in sectarian divisions although he was a Sunni Muslim and was devoted to that particular path he also seems to state that Beyond such outer conflicts and divisions there is a singular truth the truth of love and unity Rumi calls on the listeners to come to that place of Love regardless of who they are in one of the most famous and often quoted poems called Come Again Come Again whatever you are come again if you're a Catholic or Idol worshiper come again this home of ours is Not A Home of hopelessness even if you repented a hundred times come again in relation to some of these ideas many have connected the thought of Rumi with that of his famous older contemporary IBN Arabi and his Doctrine which later became known as the unity of being as we saw it's quite likely that Rumi knew of a banana be and that he might have even met him when he lived in Damascus Romy was also friends we had then lived in the same city as IBN arabi's Chief disciple sadradeen kunawi but as Scholars like William chiddick had convincingly argued there is little reason to think that IBN arabi's ideas had any direct influence on Rumi although there are similarities there are also many significant differences as Rumi's writings lack many of the characteristic teachings and vocabulary of the school of even Arabi in terms of his metaphysics and philosophy another one of the most Central key themes for Rumi is the distinction he draws between form Surah and meaning Mana the world that we experience the world of Multiplicity is a kind of Illusion it's a dream a veil of reality through forms that hide the meanings behind it most people only see the forms of the world the surface level foam on the Ocean or the dust and the wind and they never realize that all these forms are pointing to the hidden realities or reality behind it all they are the outer manifestation of that hidden meaning William chiddick explains quote ultimately meaning is that thing as it is known to God himself and since God is beyond any sort of Multiplicity in the last analysis the meaning of all things is God in other words behind the illusion and veil of Multiplicity there is a Unity or Oneness namely God the world as we know it is according to Rumi like a shadow but this isn't gnosticism Rumi is not a complete denier of the physical world as we've seen all of reality is pervaded by kind of Oneness or Unity the forms are the manifestations of the meaning it is only our misunderstanding that creates trouble chidic again says quad form and meaning are inextricably connected form derives from meaning and meaning manifests itself as form since the two are the outward and inward aspects of a single reality each is important in its own way but for most people the danger lies in giving too much importance to form and not understanding that it derives its existence and significance from meaning and this is where you find some of those similarities between Rumi and thinkers like even Arabi that the two seemingly hold what many would perceive as a kind of monistic worldview just like for IBN Arabi Rumi seems to imply that ultimately there is only God and that all other things are a kind of Illusion at the core of reality is a Unity or Oneness hiding beneath the multiplicity of apparent existence or form this kind of idea can be found all over Ruby's works for example in the very opening section of the masnabi which says quote the lover is a veil all is beloved beloved lives the lover is a corpse or in the Divine where he says quote my soul and yours have been essentially won as well as my appearance and yours and my hiddenness and yours only for the sake of others understanding that I say mine and yours since in reality there is no me and you in my interior and yours we must be careful to not interpret these ideas as crude pantheism though there is always a clear distinction between God and Creation in a sense and rumor just like his fellow sufis are always very careful to not say that God is ever incarnated in the human being in any way or that the that it is a situation where the two Essences become one the human and and God so to say he makes this clear in one of the core trains from the Divine quote as long as the servant of God does not become absolutely extinguished of self the unity of God does not become verified by him Unity is not The Descent of God into you it is you not being for something false does not become true merely by Idol boasting or in another quadrant quote anyone who ties something untied into a knot laughs at his own condition and the condition of the world they speak words about Union and separation yet how can something that was never separated be joined but there's no denying as is clear from these same verses that there are many indications in Rumi's writings pointing to what we can semi-problematically refer to as a kind of monism it doesn't help that many of the most major commentaries of the masnavi were done from the perspective of IBN Arabi School further of course solidifying that kind of interpretation of the poems but the rumor was his own person with unique ideas that he inherited from his Iranian form of Sufism but there are clearly many parallels here too known widely as mawlana Rumi passed away in 1273 at just over 65 years old his funeral was attended by scores of people in the city not only fellow Muslims but Christians and Jews young and old poor people and the political leaders all of whom mourn the loss of a saint and spiritual giant that impacted just about everyone the funeral prayers were led by another major Sufi figure Southern konawi and eventually a major Shrine was erected on the site of romy's burial which still stands today as a centerpiece of the city of Konya clearly by the time he died Rumi was already a major figure in various respects and he left behind a legacy of both students and devoted admirers but also the massive output of poetry that we've already mentioned poetry that would still be read and admired around the world 800 years later even to this day the anniversary of his death what is known as the Chevy aruz which means the wedding night is celebrated every year with a lot of people coming to Kanya to the shrine of Rumi to celebrate and and do listen to samah and all these kinds of things um in Sufism so to explain this this concept of the wedding night in Sufism it is thought that at death when someone dies they are reunited with God so death is seen as something very positive it is is like again like the name suggests like a wedding night the orus it is often called when someone dies it's that someone returns to God and is united with God just like a bride and bridegroom would be United at their wedding so every year um the death of Rumi is celebrated and and he is remembered on this day which since the Gregorian calendar was um was implemented is celebrated I believe on December 17th every year and and the center of these celebrations are of course in Konya even today the significant group of followers and students that he had established his school of Sufism so to say was first led by hosama Dean the aforementioned disciples Central to the composition of the masnavi but eventually leadership of the Brotherhood went to Rumi's son Sultan valad who would become a key figure in the development of his father's Community into a proper Sufi order wrote several important Works himself including poetry but it must have been hard to follow someone like Rumi and with that responsibility imagine having imagine having Rumi as your father and then trying to pursue poetry like seems like a lot of pressure in any case it is in these succeeding years and decades after mawlana's death that we see the development of the nevlevy Sufi order based on Rumi's teachings and lineage which is today famous around the world and has been one of the most influential Sufi orders in history the maplevy order is very much based on the personality teachings and practices of Rumi it emphasizes love as a key driving force and takes an approach to Sufism that is decidedly what we often call intoxicated or ecstatic Rumi's poetry was and remains an important component of the being recited regularly during ritual events and Gatherings furthermore Rumi's great love for music and Sama that spiritual concert that we talked about developed into a staple and Cornerstone of the meblovic tradition the way that Rumi and his disciples would perform the Sama with a whirling or spinning kind of dance or motion became an elaborate and highly ritualized practice in later centuries and is today famous as the so-called whirling dervishes the dervous world in emotion that reflects the Motions of the planets the uh the spinning motion which is a central motion of the entire universe and reality one arm extended upwards and the other stretched outward to the side representing a kind of reception and transmission receiving the Divine love and spreading it upwardly around you this is at least one among many interpretations of the symbolism at play here and on top of this the medley order also of course involved more standard aspects of Sufi practice such as thicker for instance particularly a form of Dicker where the name Allah is chanted over and over again as well as things like Retreats fasting and other such techniques the maplevy order eventually became one of the most if not the most powerful and popular Sufi order in the Ottoman Empire indeed the order and its sheikhs and leaders often had close contact with the ottoman Sultans who would sponsor the building of medley buildings and lodges for example the famous ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent was involved with the building of the Sama Hall in the great Melody complex in Konya the meblovir together with the nakshbandiya were often seen as more Orthodox Sufi orders that adhere to the principles of Islamic law whereas other orders in the region were looked at with more suspicion by the states such as the big Tashi order for example whose status kind of wavered and varied with the times but despite this great popularity and the general Fame of Rumi as a poet and the spiritual Master around the Islamic world the medley order has remained mostly based in Anatolia there have been significant communities in Damascus Jerusalem and Tripoli and Lebanon but the majority of medley activities have taken place in the heartlands of the Ottoman Empire this status as a more Orthodox Sufi order wasn't always obvious though as there have often been individuals and ships that have taken a more anti-nominant path The Scholar Ahmed Kara Mustafa argues in his book God's unruly friends that there has always existed two strands or attitudes within the meblibi community one that more closely adheres to the rules of the Sharia and the expectations of Muslim piety and behavior the mainstream in other words and another that is more anti-nominant than leaning towards malamati or kalandari Sufism the malamatis which literally means the people of blame or the blameworthy is a certain strand or attitude within Sufism where one's inner spiritual state is hidden from the outside world sometimes by acting in questionable ways that breaks social norms the kalandariya often represents the most extreme form of this tendency with individuals that would consciously break all kinds of laws and Norms they would drink alcohol urinate in public they would shave off all their hair including beard and eyebrows and often they would wander around singing and dancing all this had a spiritual purpose it was a way of fighting the ego or itself in the most extreme Way by literally making other people despise you for your behavior a really fascinating group of Mystics and there have been certain nebulavis in history sometimes even prominent leader figures that have leaned towards these kinds of movements and attitudes with that said the majority of mevelis and their General reputation has been quite the opposite after the death of Rumi the highest leadership of the order was carried on by his descendants the first one was his son Sultan balad as we saw but this line has continued until this very day the leaders of the maplevy order were given the title chalabi and that is the chalabi that has the highest Authority being able to decide who is an official Sheikh or Master within the order the current leader of the memories is Farooq hamdam chalabi with that said the organizational structure of the melevies have altered significantly during the last century or so even to some degree sort of falling apart in some ways um while the memories as we said had a pretty good standing and a relationship with the ottoman Sultans during the Ottoman Empire this would significantly change in the 20th century when the Ottoman Empire fell apart and the Republic of Turkey was formed there was a new attitude towards religion turkey was to become a secular State and there were many different processes that that were set in motion to make turkey secular and Sufism in this new in this new um in this new turkey was seen as old Superstition these Sufi orders had way too much power and so in 1925 Sufism and all its activities were officially forbidden in Turkey so all the melody lodges were closed down they were forbidden from performing their classic rituals like Sama and zikr and this Still Remains the rule to this day this has had a significant impact on the order in the modern world for obvious reasons um like the the Sama ritual for instance which has been such a central part of of the order can be experienced today by tourists but this is mostly because it has been constructed or it's it's painted as a cultural heritage right a cultural practice and not a religious ritual this is why it has been allowed to continue in some fashion in Turkey today and can be experienced again for example by by tourists but the actual practices and and the map of your order as such has altered significantly and the hierarchical structure and the organizational structure of the order has compared to earlier kind of Fallen apart but the legacy of jalala din Rumi and the melevies live on around the world in different ways official sheikhs recognized by the Celebi such as Kabir helminski in the U.S keep the order alive and of course it is the Poetry of Romeo that has taken the World by storm books of translation of Rumi's poems sell in numbers that other modern poets could only dream of it really is an amazing development but like we mentioned earlier many of these popular translations often greatly alter the original meaning and flavor of Rumi's works in particular the Islamic character of The Poetry is often removed completely they can be read and enjoyed as poetry on its own but not necessarily as always representing the thoughts and words of Rumi himself on top of this there is also a whole ocean of fake roomy quotes out there I would say that a lot of if not maybe even the majority of those famous quotes by Roman that we see on Instagram or Twitter and all these other sites are either outright fake like not being by Rumi at all or they have been significantly altered in their translation so that most people in the west especially have a kind of skewed image of Rumi and his actual teachings for more quote unquote accurate translations that stick more closely to the original Persian meanings we have to turn elsewhere there are many different translations of Rumi out there and it can be hard to navigate where to turn and who to trust if you want scholarly translations of his poetry there are actually some great options out there when it comes to the masnavi I would especially recommend the works of Nicholson and Alan Williams uh the only like actual full translation of all the six books of of Rumi actually at least like a scholarly translation or those by Reynold a Nicholson which was written I think was finished in 1940 or at least in the 1940s um this still holds up it's a good translation although it it does it's kind of a dry translation it has this sort of all style of language and it can be a little dry although it sticks pretty closely to the original meanings um if that's what you're after uh there's also a more recent translation by Jawad mojadadi which is a beautiful poetic translation so much has actually tried to mimic the rhyming and Melody of the original Persian and a really beautiful way so it's a really aesthetically pleasing translation to read although because of this methodology he has of course been forced to make some creative um taking some creative Liberties in order to make them rhyme and work in this way but still I would highly recommend this translation it is accurate and it's really beautiful to read at the moment of recording this mojadity has only only released the first five books out of six but hopefully the the last one should be coming out in the in the coming years and then lastly the most recently started translation project of the masnavi is that by Alan Williams which is also highly recommended and really really beautiful it does not have it does not take the uh poetic rhyming approach of modernity instead sticking closer to the original Persian and the the word for word meanings but still being very aesthetically pleasing and beautiful to read so those when it comes to the masnavi those are the translations that I would recommend um Alan Williams's translation is only so far put out the first two books out of six that are still still also sort of work in progress but um very much looking forward to the rest of those coming out and for now you can enjoy the first two books um maybe that's a good thing so you can sort of get a get a slow start take one thing at a time because it is a it is a long work as for room is Devon or collection of poems the Divani Shams things are more complicated there is no full translation of the entire Divan into English but there are a few um selections uh nice sizable representations of some of the poems the quadrants of Rumi by Ibrahim gamard and rawan farhadi is a translation of all the quadrants or rubayat from the Devon in particular and it's highly recommended for a selection of the results you can consult author John arbury's Works particularly the two volume collection mystical poems of Rumi which include 400 of the ghazals from the divan as for the prose Works in particular his discourses areberry has also published a translation of this work under the title discourses of Rumi there is also a more recent and very competent translation of the same work by W.M Thaxton which is called science of the Unseen the discourses of Rumi so now you have a place to start so you can hopefully two start to explore the wonderful masterpieces that are the many poems and and works of jaladin Rumi we've seen that his life is a fascinating tale of love war conflict and heartbreak living through one of the most eventful periods in the history of the Middle East we've explored the different aspects of his life that would have inspired and been a catalyst for his poetry and gotten to know him and those around him a little closer hopefully this allows us to appreciate even more the absolutely awe-inspiring poetry that he has become so famous for The masnabi Remains one of the most famous and revered works of literature in history even as we saw being called the Quran in Persian and being appreciated by people from various backgrounds and spiritual leanings Rumi left behind a legacy not just of poetry but as a beacon of spiritual light in the world one of the great Mystics and luminaries in world history was beloved by Muslims as well as Christians and Jews for his openness and understanding His Kind nature and the way that he was able to speak to the Common Man and convey the most lofty spiritual ideals it is therefore not surprising that he's just as relevant today as he has ever been and that his poems and different forms Reach people on different continents and over a time span of almost a millennium through him the Wailing lament of the Nay can still be heard around the world I'll see you next time [Music]

Channel: Let's Talk Religion

Views: 390,551

Keywords: Rumi, rumi poetry, sufism, who was rumi, jalal al din rumi, jalaluddin rumi, sufi poetry, masnavi, shams tabrizi, persian poetry, persian, spirituality, coleman barks, let's talk religion, filip holm, spiritual poetry, mysticism, islamic mysticism, rumi documentary, rumi explained, was rumi muslim, islam, rumi and islam, rumi music, whirling dervishes, mevlevi, mevlevi order, ottoman empire, sema, sufi music

Id: 7xcBDg2JYkg

Length: 79min 4sec (4744 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 25 2023