Rumi ~ a complete humanist

Abdus Subhan
The Statesman, 26 October

The year 2007 has been declared as International Rumi Year by Unesco in commemoration of the 800th birth anniversary of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, one of the greatest humanists, philosopher-poets and mystics the world has ever seen. With a view to disseminating its charter, Unesco has also instituted a medal in the poet’s honour to encourage scholarly investigation into Rumi’s thoughts and ideals, conducive to international understanding and harmony.

Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi, commonly known as “Rumi” because he lived in Rum, (ancient Anatolia, or Asian Turkey and a part of of the former Roman Empire), was born at Balkh, in present day Afghanistan, on 30 September, 1207 and died at Konya, Turkey, on 17 December, 1273. His life, therefore, spans the entire 13th century of the Christian era, corresponding to the 7th century Hijri. He belonged to a family of jurists and scholars who dominated the cultural scene of Transoxiana in the Middle Ages.

In 1228, at the invitation of the Seljuq Sultan Alauddin Kaikobad, the family emigrated to Konya, the prosperous capitral of the Seljuq Turks and a leading centre of culture and learning. Rumi was educated by eminent Ulema at Damascus and Aleppo in Syria, where he also met the famous Spanish scholar and saint Muhyuddin Ibn al-Arabi, who taught Rumi the essentials of mysticism. On his return to Konya, Rumi began to lecture at the colleges of advanced learning.

The 25th of October, 1244 marked a turning point in Rumi’s career. It was on this day that he happened to come in contact with the famed wandering Darvesh, Shamsuddin Muhammad Tabrizi, whose spiritual impact on Rumi was so sudden and pervasive that the cool, self-possessed professor of theology gave up his teaching career and became a humble devotee of the mystic. Rumi’s total devotion to his spiritual guide was resented by some fellow disciples.

One day Shams Tabriz quietly disappeared, leaving Rumi greatly disconcerted, till his son, Sultan Walad, searched out the saint in Damascus and brought him back to Konya.

The mentor’s reappearance for the sake of his distracted disciple cost him his life. He was surreptitiously killed by the same evil people who had earlier forced him to leave Konya. The murder was kept concealed from Rumi’s knowledge. The poet, in lamentation for his lost preceptor, poured out his heart through some fifty thousand verses which constitutes what is commonly known as Diwan-i-Shams Tabriz, a collection of spiritual odes which Rumi composed and dedicated to his Master, whose name he uses, instead of his own, as the nom de plume in most of his ghazals.

After the death of Shams-i-Tabriz, Rumi became a disciple of Salahuddin Zarkub, a gold-smith by profession, who died in 1258 and was succeeded as Shaikh by ChelebiHusamuddin Hasan, whose inspiration and persuasion inspired Rumi to produce the magnum opus of Persian mysticism, the celebrated Masnavi, comprising over 26,000 couplets, divided into six volumes. Rumi’s ecstatic worldly life came to an end on 17 December, 1273. He lies buried in Konya, where his mausoleum continues to be a place of pilgrimage for thousands of his devotees and admirers.

The Diwan and the Masnavi, containing nearly a hundred thousand verses, are as stupendous in magnitude as they are sublime in content. Together, they reveal the marvellous range of Rumi’s poetical genius and philosophical outlook.

While comparing the two works, Professor RA Nicholson, the greatest Western researcher on Rumi and his art, says: “Sufi theosophy is the fountainhead of Rumi’s inspiration. From this the Masnavi and the Diwan descend by separate channels. The one is a majestic river, calm and deep, meandering through many a rich and varied landscape to the immeasurable ocean; the other a foaming torrent that leaps and plunges in the ethereal solitude”.

The Masnavi, in the words of Professor AJ Arberry, is “among the world’s greatest masterpieces of religious literature”.

Scholars are unanimous in acclaiming the Masnavi as the complete scripture of Islamic mysticism, a unique evaluation of esoteric truth. For ages it has served as a text-book of Sufi thinkers from Africa to China. Abdur Rahman Jami, the last great classical poet of Persia, hailed the poem as “the Koran in Persian language”, and said of Rumi: “Though he is not a prophet, he has a Book”. Within the framework of delightful tales, culled from the Koran and the Apostlic Traditions (Hadith) and lives of the Prophets and saints, the poet sets the matter of his discourse, the central part of which is Love, which he describes as “the astrolabe of heavenly mysteries”, “the eye salve which clears the spiritual eye and makes it clairvoyant’.

Today, in this world full of misery and sorrow, pain and suffering, the spiritual influence of Rumi is being felt by people of diverse beliefs throughout the world. He is being recognised in the Western world, as he has been for the last seven centuries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, as one of the greatest literary and spiritual figures of all time. Indeed, the world of today needs a Rumi to create an attitude of hope and to kindle the fire of enthusiasm for life.

Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry and dancing as a path for reaching God. He founded the order of the Mevlevi, the “whirling dervishes” and created the Sama, the sacred dance. In the Mevlevi tradition, Sama represents mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind and love to a state of Perfection.

In this journey, the seeker symbolically turns towards the truth, and attains it so as to love and be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination against beliefs, races, classes and nations.

The world of Rumi is neither exclusively the world of a Sufi, nor of a Hindu, nor a Jew, nor a Christian; it is the highest state of a human being. A complete humanist is not bound by cultural limitations; he touches every one of us.

Today, Rumi’s poems can be heard in churches, synagogues, Zen monasteries, as well as in downtown New York art and music scene. Rumi’s life and contributions provide true testimony that people of all religions and backgrounds can live together in peace and harmony. Rumi’s visions and words teach us how to reach inner solace and happiness and achieve true global peace and harmony.

(The author is Fellow of Asiatic Society, Kolkata)