The 13th century Persian language mystic Mowlana, alternatively known as Rumi, is the most popular and the best selling poet in the United States.
The remark was made by head of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, Gholamali Hadad-Adel, while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of Shams-e Tabrizi’s tomb in Khoy county, West Azarbaijan Province, ISNA reported.
The place has been only recently recognized as the burial place of Shams.
Hadad-Adel hoped the site would become “a glorious complex and a refuge for his advocates and followers of his path.”
“We can’t comprehend the grandeur of Shams, unless we come to know his spiritual friend and student Mowlana. The two are sides of one coin; hence to know one there is need to know the other.” Although he was only for a short time with Mowlana, “he lit a fire in him, which changed his life completely; turning him from an accomplished teacher and jurist, into an ascetic.” Mowlana’s love for, and his bereavement of Shams, found their expression in an outpouring lyrical poem, ‘Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi,’ titled so in his honor. The book containing more than 40,000 verses is written in the New Persian language and is considered one of the greatest works of Persian literature.
Mowlana’s other major work the ‘Masnawiye Ma’nawi’ or literally ‘The Spiritual Couplets’, is regarded by some Sufis “as the Persian-language Qur’an in which he touches on how to reach true love with God. The book has been inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register lists.”
Spiritual Legacy
“Mowlana gives us the message that the universe is not an abandoned meaningless place, but is developing towards its goal; the real status of Shams is only known through the love and respect Mowlana has for him” Hadad-Adel said.
Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Tajiks, Turkish, Greeks, Pashtuns, Central Asian Muslims, and the Muslims of South Asia have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries.
He died in 1273 AD and was buried in Konya, Turkey and his shrine became a place of pilgrimage. Following his death, his followers and his son Sultan Walad founded the Mevlevi Order, also known as the Order of the Whirling Dervishes, famous for its Sufi dance known as the Sama ceremony. He was laid to rest beside his father, and over his remains a splendid shrine was erected.
