The Life and Legacy of Jelaluddin Rumi

Early Life

Born on September 30th, 1207 into a family of learned Islamic theologians in what is now Afghanistan, Jelaluddin Rumi was a poetic genius, Sufi mystic and one of the most far-sighted and enlightened men the world has ever known. His vast body of poetry continues to touch and awaken people of all cultures.

When Rumi was five years’ old, he and his family fled their homeland to escape the impending Mongol invasion. After travelling extensively within the Middle East, meeting significant religious scholars and mystics and performing Hajj (pilgrimage) in Mecca, the family settled finally in Konya, in modern-day Turkey.

At the age of 24 his mastery of mathematics, physics, law, philosophy, astronomy and Qur’anic commentary (to name a few) enabled him to take over his father’s position as leading Sheikh in the Sufi learning community. By the age of 35 Rumi’s brilliant discourses and warmth of heart made him the greatest teacher of his time with over 10,000 disciples.

A Meeting of Minds

In November 1244 Rumi had an encounter that was to change his life completely. There are different stories of what happened. One tells of how Rumi was sitting by the side of a pool, surrounded by his students, when a wandering dervish dressed in a dark wool coat roughly pushed his way to the front and seizing Rumi’s books and precious scrolls, threw them into the water. Appalled, Rumi cried out: “What are you doing?”  The stranger replied, “What are you doing?” and, reaching into the water retrieved the manuscripts. Not one of them was wet.

This stranger was Shams I Tabriz, a fierce, uncompromising teacher whom few could endure. Shams is reported to have said, “I have nothing to do with mundane affairs. I have come to put my fingers on the nerves of the ones who lead others to God.”

Rumi took the stranger home, spending the next 40 days in ‘sohbet’ or ‘mystical conversation.’ At the end of this time Rumi gave up his teaching position to learn from this great master.

The two of them became inseparable. Their intense recognition of the presence of the Divine in each other gave rise to an even Greater Presence, something that Rumi refers to in his work as the ‘Beloved,’ the ‘Friend,’ the ‘Silent One’ and even ‘A New Christ.’ 

Their friendship was a great mystery. They were together for months on end, without any human needs, transported into a realm of pure conversation. But this ecstatic connection caused jealousies in the religious community. Rumi’s students felt neglected. Sensing trouble, Shams disappeared. Rumi was distraught and searched for him everywhere.

At last word came that Shams had been seen in Damascus. Rumi sent for him and when the two men met a second time, they fell at each others feet and it is said that ‘no one could tell who was the lover and who the beloved.’ Shams stayed in Rumi’s house and married a young girl whom Rumi had adopted. Again the conversations began; so too were old jealousies awakened.

One night, December 5th 1248, as Shams and Rumi were talking, Shams was called to the door. He went out, never to be seen again. He was most likely murdered.

Rumi was shattered. He searched for him again, trawling the streets of Damascus and finding consolation only in the company of poets and musicians and by whirling round and round hour upon hour in his grief and longing. Finally he came to a realisation:

“Why should I seek? I am the same as he.
His essence speaks through me.
I have been looking for myself.”

A New Destiny

Rumi's awakening found its expression in an outpouring of music, dance and some of the greatest lyric poems ever recorded. Notable among Rumi’s works is the Divani Shamsi Tabrizi (The Word of Shams of Tabriz), comprising some 30,000 verses, and a further 22,000 verses in the Masnavi-je Manavi (Spiritual Couplets). Both these works are considered to be among the most significant in Persian literature.

Rumi's Death

Rumi died on December 17, 1273, at the age of 68. Revered and respected by those of all communities and all faiths, his coffin was followed by Christians, Jews, Greeks, Arabs and Turks, the representatives of each community walking in front holding their holy books and reading aloud from the Psalms, the Gospels, the Quran and the Pentateuch. When the Sultan asked why Rumi was so loved by those of other faiths, he was told:
“We saw in Rumi the real nature of Christ and Moses and all the prophets. Just as you claim he was the Mohammed of our time, we found in him the Jesus and the Moses. Did he not say, ‘we are like a flute, which with a single mode is tuned to two hundred religions?’ Our Master is the sun of truth which has shone on everyone.”
Rumi was laid to rest beside his father. His epitaph reads: "When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men.”

Rumi's Legacy

Almost immediately after his death, Rumi’s son, Sultan Walad, founded the Mevlevi Sufi order, better known as the Whirling Dervishes, which continue to this day.
Today, Rumi's importance lives on, transcending religious and ethnic borders. He is considered one of the most important classical poets and, for many people worldwide, his words provide a spiritual map for the soul.
His work continues to be ever more widely translated; Coleman Bark’s translations of his poetry alone have made Rumi one of the best-selling poets of all time.  His poems can be heard in spiritual centres of all persuasions, at festivals, universities, churches, mosques, synagogues, Buddhist monasteries and theatres all around the globe. They have been recited by Madonna, Demi Moore and Goldie Hawn.
There is no doubt; although Rumi died 800 years’ ago, his spirit lives on through his work. He continues to inspire millions worldwide.

Rumi's Poetry

Rumi's Spirituality

Back to the top