Maulana's biography

Rumi is one of the honors of Iran and a great and divine scholar whose works have swept the whole world like a storm and caused many changes. Rumi is one of the most important poets in history, whose works are still spoken after hundreds of years. In this article, we want to discuss the biography of Rumi. Stay with us in the future.

Who is Maulana?

Maulana Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi, in the year 604 AH (586 CE), in a noble family from Balkh, which was a part of Iran at that time; was born. The early years of his life coincided with the invasion of Mongol Genghis Khan and because of this, the family was forced to leave the country.

Bahauddin, Maulana's father, and his companions left for Baghdad from Neishabur and met many scholars and Sufis of that city. From there, they went to Hijaz and made a pilgrimage to Mecca. It was after this trip that Baha' al-Din came to Asia Minor at the invitation of Allah al-Din Ki Qabad, the ruler of Anatolia, and finally settled in Konya in Anatolia, the westernmost territory of the Seljuk Empire.

His family settled in the Muslim city of Konya in present-day Türkiye. Bahauddin became the head of a school and after his death, Rumi replaced his father at the age of 25.

How was the great character of Rumi formed?

One of Bahá'u'lledin's students named Seyyed Burhan al-Din Mohagheq continued to train Rumi in religious and mystical sciences. Maulana practiced Sufism as a student of Burhanuddin for nine years until Burhanuddin also died. During this period, Rumi also traveled to Damascus and it is said that he spent four years there.

He gained great fame in Konya, where he married, had children, and gained a following because of his teaching and education. At that time, he had no desire to be a poet and said: "I swear to God, I don't care for poetry, and I don't think it's worse than this."

However, Rumi's views changed after he met his spiritual teacher, Shamsuddin Tabrizi. His encounter with Shams was in the late autumn of Rumi's 37th year, which changed his life completely.

Summary of Maulana's biography

The original story of Rumi's life is well known and many know what happened. He migrated from Balkh with his family just before the destruction of Balkh by the Mongol army and traveled from city to city including Mecca with his family before settling in Anatolia.

He eventually moved to present-day Turkey and finally to Konya, the ancient city of Ichneum. Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi had high academic degrees and succeeded his father, who was a renowned scholar; became. At the end of his youth, when he was 37 years old, he met the wandering dervish, Shamsuddin Tabrizi, who had a transformative effect on his life.

His devotion to Shams led to problems. Rumi's interest in Shams aroused the jealousy of his children and followers, which eventually led to the disappearance of Shams. After that, his eldest son sent Sultan Walid to bring Shams back from Damascus, but he said, truthfully or falsely, that he had not found Shams.

when Shams disappeared forever; Rumi was completely saddened and heartbroken, and then as a mystical poet he regained his creativity more than ever before. His best works were written in his late youth (37 years and later), middle age and old age. After his death, which caused a lot of sadness in the community of Pars, the Islamic world and other parts of the world, Sultan Voled, who was his eldest son, succeeded him after the death of his senior student Hossam al-Din Chalabi.

What was Maulana's religion?

Maulana was a Sufi. It is a mystical tradition of Islam that deals with the experience of meeting and talking directly with God as a manifestation of divine love.

Sufis can be associated with Shia, Sunni, other Islamic currents or a combination of several traditions. Sufism, which emerged in the Middle East about 2 centuries after Islam, although it had earlier antecedents, subsequently evolved into several different religions, known as Islamic schools of thought. The most famous of these orders are the Maulvi traditions, which are related to this poet and sage, Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi.

The story of Rumi's acquaintance with Shams

There are various narratives of the story of the acquaintance of Shams and Rumi. In one narration, Shams interrupted Rumi's speech and threw his books into a pool of water. In a similar story, Shams waved his hand over Rumi's books and threw them into the fire.

In the third narration, Rumi was riding a mule with his disciples to the city when a strange figure named Shams approached him and asked him a simple question that he could not answer correctly.

Shams explained that he only seeks divine love, which leads to true enlightenment. In fact, it can be said that Rumi became a poet because of his friendship with Shams Tabrizi. Shams Tabrizi arrived in Konya when Rumi was a great and respected teacher and considered the necessity of direct communication with God as one of the main pillars of mysticism.

Rumi was fascinated by Shams and with that respect and knowledge, he became Shams's student and close friend. The two were rarely apart. It is said that Rumi's sons and followers were jealous of Shams and kicked him out of the city. Whatever the reason, after Shams' disappearance, Rumi never met Shams again.

Some say that Shams was killed by the people around Molavi, and others say that he was exiled. However, after this incident, Rumi comforted himself by writing poems, elegies, and performing dances, especially the Sama dance, which was accompanied by special music and poems.

After getting to know Shams, Molavi found his true self and his talent and creativity flourished in his writing. In these years, he wrote many works that are still among the most read works in the world after hundreds of years have passed.