The roar of Rumi - 800 years on
By Charles Haviland
BBC News, Balkh, northern Afghanistan



For many years now, the most popular poet in America has been a 13th-century mystical Muslim scholar.

Translations of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi's - better known as Rumi - verse are hugely popular and have been used by Western pop stars such as Madonna.

They are attracted by his tributes to the power of love and his belief in the spiritual use of music and dancing - although scholars stress that he was talking about spiritual love between people and God, not earthly love.

Rumi, whose 800th birth anniversary falls on Sunday, was born in 1207 in Balkh in Central Asia, now part of Afghanistan.

I came here to see whether he has much resonance in his native country which, under the Taleban, went so far as to ban music.



Still standing


A young Afghan archaeologist, Reza Hosseini, took me to the ruins of the mud-and-brick-built khanaqa - a kind of madrassa or religious school - where Rumi's father taught and the young boy is believed to have studied, lying just outside the old mud city walls and probably within yards of his birthplace.

It is a quiet and melancholy place, the structure eroded and encroached on by shrubs and bushes.



But an amazing amount of it is still standing - the square structure, its four arches with pointed tops, in the Islamic style, and half of the graceful dome.

Mr Hosseini says the floor was originally constructed of baked bricks and lined with carpets donated by those who came to share the learning.

Sufism - or Islamic mysticism - was already enshrined here before Rumi's time and Mr Hosseini imagines that this corner of the town, by the madrassa, would have echoed to the sound of Sufi singing and prayer.

But, he says, it is unclear how widespread, or acceptable, practices such as music and dance were in the wider population.

When Rumi was barely out of his teens, Balkh was reduced to rubble by Genghis Khan's marauding Mongol invaders.

Rumi had fled in advance with his family and settled in Konya, now in Turkey.

After the murder of his close friend, a Persian wandering dervish called Shams-i-Tabriz, he was depressed for years but later wrote his greatest poetic work, the Mathnawi.

It describes the soul's separation from God and the mutual yearning to reunite.

With his injunctions of tolerance and love, he has universal appeal, says Abdul Qadir Misbah, a culture specialist in the Balkh provincial government.

"Whether a person is from East or West, he can feel the roar of Rumi," he says.

Great love

"When a religious scholar reads the Mathnawi, he interprets it religiously. And when sociologists study it, they say how powerful a sociologist Rumi was. When people in the West study it, they see that it's full of emotions of humanity."

The Sufi mystical tradition is not immediately apparent in modern Afghanistan.

But with Mr Hosseini's help, I traced a small group of eight Sufi musicians in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif whose great love is Rumi's poetry.

First there is a solo from Rumi's favoured instrument, the reed flute.


Then the flute player is joined by Mohammed Zakir, usually a shopkeeper, who fills the room with his powerful voice in interpreting the words "I'm a man who's not afraid of love; I'm a moth who's not afraid of burning".

In the third song, all the men join in with an extraordinary, percussive vocal sound which, Mr Zakir says, comes straight from the heart. It continues for nearly 10 intense minutes.

I meet Professor Abdulah Rohen, a local expert on the poet, who says that, regrettably, knowledge of Rumi - also known as Mawlana - has declined recently.

"Forty years ago the economic situation of the people was good. People would work in the summer time collecting food and would eat it in winter. In winter they were free. They would gather in mosques and sing Mawlana's poems.

'Disfavour'


"But in the past 10 or 15 years people's economic situation has deteriorated, so they are far from Mawlana."

He says the advent of communism in Afghanistan brought poetry into disfavour because it was seen as backward-looking.


Then the Taleban attempted to crush Sufism and outlawed all music, but Prof Rohen says it has since regained huge popularity.

According to him, Rumi brought Sufi mysticism away from asceticism and into the heart of the people.

Many western fans of Rumi have secularised his message.

It was in fact a religious one; and, says Prof Rohen, Christians and Jews as well as Muslims flocked to his funeral.

I ask him to sum up the poet's message and he offers a quote.

"Mawlana says - if the sky is not in love, then it will not be so clear. If the sun is not in love, then it will not be giving any light. If the river is not in love, then it will be in silence, it will not be moving. If the mountains, the earth are not in love, then there will be nothing growing."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/7016090.stm

Published: 2007/09/30 00:07:06 GMT

© BBC MMVII

quote:

describes the soul's separation from God and the mutual yearning to reunite

Is this anything else but samadhi?

ABOUT MAWLANA JALALUDDIN RUMI


Jalaluddin Rumi (may God sanctify his holy spirit) was one of the
greatest Muslim saints and mystics. He has also been hailed by
Western scholars as the greatest mystical poet of all time.1 And
popularized versions of his poetry have made him the best-selling
poet in America in recent years2 -- after a period of over 700 years,
during which his fame has endured in the Middle East, Central
Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.

The popularity of his poetry has spread in the West because of its
heart-felt themes of lover-beloved mysticism, and its spiritual joy
which seems to emanate even from the most distorted versions in
English. However, the popularization of his poetry has also been
attained by a number of sacrifices: (1) a lack of accuracy of the
meanings of his words and teachings; and (2), a deliberate
minimization and evasion of verses in his poetry that reveal that he
was a pious Muslim all his life, and a very devoted follower of the
prayerful daily life exemplified by the Prophet Muhammad (may
God pour blessings upon him).

He was born in what is now the nation of Tajikistan (the country
north of Afghanistan) in town of Wakhsh , where his father worked
as a Muslim preacher and scholar. Wahksh was part of the cultural
area of the ancient city of Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan),
which had been a major center of Islamic learning for five hundred
years before Rumi was born. His father, also a great mystic, or sufi
master, was from Balkh. He named his son Muhammad, but later
called him by the additional name, Jalâlu 'd-deen ("the Glory of the
Faith"). His full name was Jalâlu 'd-deen Muhammad bin (= son
of) Husayn al-Balkhî. Later, when he moved to Anatolia (present-
day Turkey) with his family, he became known as Jalâlu 'd-deen
Muhammad al-Roomee. This is because Anatolia had been called
for centuries "Rûm" (a form of "Rome") which meant "the land of
the Greeks" (who had long ruled the area from Constantinople, the
capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and later the Byzantine
Empire). In the East, he has always been known as Mawlânâ
(pronounced "Mowlânâ" in Iran, India, and Pakistan; pronounced
"Mevlana" in Turkey). This means "our Master" in Arabic, and
was traditionally a title given to Muslim scholars. However, due to
his great fame, the respectful title "Mawlânâ" quickly came to refer
primarily to Jalaluddin Rumi. Only in the West has he been called
"Rumi."

Rumi must have memorized much or all of the Holy Qur'an when
he was young, because the Mathnawi and his other poetry are filled
with direct quotes in Arabic, Persian paraphrases, and references to
Qur'anic verses. He belonged to the Hanafi school of Islamic law,
one of the four orthodox legal traditions of the Sunni branch of
Islam. This means that his daily religious behavior was faithful to
the many details of the Hanafi tradition of how to follow the
example of the Prophet Muhammad.

Rumi's first sufi master, Sayyid Burhânu 'd-dîn Termezî, was his
father's leading sufi disciple who came to Anatolia after hearing of
the death of Rumi's father. Rumi was his sufi disciple for ten years,
during part of which he was sent to Syria to obtain a traditional
Islamic education. Sayyid Burhanuddin was also a profound
mystic who instilled in Rumi a love of Persian sufi poetry and
ordered him to do a number of lengthy solitary prayer retreats.

Rumi was 37 years of age when he met his second sufi master,
Shamsu 'd-deen Muhammad al-Tabreezee (from Tabrîz),
traditionally believed to have been about 60 years old. It is now
known that Shams was not an illiterate and "wild" dervish as
previously thought by Western scholars, but had a solid Islamic
education and was literate and fluent in Arabic as well as Persian.
And Shams himself belonged to another major orthodox school of
Sunni Islamic law, called Shâfi`î.3 In the "Discourses of Shams,"4
a collection of notes recorded by his disciples (among whom was
Rumi's son, Sultân Walad), Shams reveals himself not only to be a
profound mystic, but very knowledgeable about traditional and
mystical interpretations of verses from the Qur'an and sayings of
the Prophet Muhammad. And he criticized at least one famous sufi
master for not following the daily religious behavior of the
Prophet.5

In a biography of Rumi, written by a disciple of Rumi's grandson,
Aflâkî, along with many miracle stories, are many accounts of how
Rumi prayed the five daily ritual Islamic prayers, fasted during the
month of Ramadan, and did many extended voluntary fasts. And
there are many accounts in which he voiced traditional Islamic
beliefs on many topics.

But it is in the masterpiece of his later life, the Mathnawî-ye
Ma`nawî (literally, "Rhymed Couplets of Deep Spiritual
Meaning") that he reveals himself as both a profound mystic and
an extremely devout Muslim. And a study of his stories and
sayings of the Prophet Muhammad reveals his veneration and love
for the Holy Prophet and the Revelation that was sent to him from
God Most High.

Mawlânâ Jalâluddîn Muhammad al-Balkhî al-Rûmî died in 1273
and was buried next to his father's tomb in Konya, Turkey. The
anniversary of his death was commemorated for centuries
according to the Islamic lunar calendar, but has been celebrated in
Turkey for the past 50 years according to the Western solar
calendar on December 17. On the night of this date, Mevlevis all
over the world whirl in remembrance and glorification of God, and
many kinds of groups read Rumi's poetry in their own languages.

RUMI

To make a start there is this charming quatrain
of
Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi (# 1218 in my edition of the Divan):

Dar bagh shodam sabuh o gol michiam
Vaz didan-e baaghbaan hami tarsidam
Shirin sokhani ze baaghbaan be shenidam
Gol raa cheh mahall keh baagh raa baghshidam

I was in the garden in the morning and I was gathering roses
And all the time I was afraid that the gardener would see me.
The gardener, however, only spoke these kind words:
‘A few roses are nothing as I give you the complete garden’.


Mawlana Rumi writes (# 84 in the edition of Foruzaanfar):

Chun gol hamaye tan khandam na az raahe dehaan tanhaa
Ziraa keh manam bi man baa shaah-e jahaan tanhaa

Like the rose, with my whole body I smile and not with my mouth alone;
Because I am, I without I, with the king of the world, alone.

Ai mash’ala-aawardah delraa besahar bordah
Jaan raa berasaan dar del delraa masataan tanhaa

O, bearer of the torch, ravisher of my heart until the early morning,
Lead my soul to my heart, do not take my heart alone!

Az khashm o hasad jaanraa bigaana makon baa del
Aan raa magozaar injaa vin raa bemakhaan tanhaa

Do not estrange my soul from my heart because of anger and envy,
That one, do not leave here and this one, do not invite alone!

Shaahaana payaami kon yak da’vate ‘aami kon
Taa kai bud ai soltaan ien baa to o aan tanhaa

Send a royal message, prepare a general invitation!
Until when, o king, this one with you and that one alone?

Chun dush agar emshab naayi o bebandi lab
Sad shur koniem ai jaan nakoniem foghaan tanhaa

If you, just like last night, do not come tonight and keep silent again,
We’ll cry out one hundred times, o soul, we do not lament alone!


Rumi writes, referring to the helping hand: (Foruzaanfar # 412):

The one who is able to make my soul intoxicated without wine, where is he?
And the one who is able to draw me outside of my soul and heart, where is he?

And the one by whom I swear, and I only swear on his head,
And the one who breaks my oath and my repentance, where is he?

And the one - early in the morning - who makes the souls cry out loud,
And the one whose grief has carried us away from our place, where is he?

He is the soul of souls - if he has no place, why would that be strange?
The one who searches for a cup and who is in our body, where is he?

The eyelids are only pretence and he has therefore capricious desires
And the one who from behind his eyelids wounds my heart, where is he?

The one who has closed the heart with a veil of light and gives visions to it,
And the one who has closed the veil of the heart with such a veil, where is he?

Reason is nothing compared to drunkenness; ‘why and when’ are ruined,
And the one who is intoxicated and is free from ‘why and when’, where is he?


The above sounds thus in Persian:

Aanke bi baade konad jaan-e maraa mast kojaast
Vaanke birun konad az jaan o delam dast kojaast

Vaanke saugand khoram joz besar-e u nakhoram
Vaanke saugand-e man o taubeyaam eshkast kojaast

Vaanke jaanhaa besahr na'ra zanaand azu
Vaanke maaraa ghamash az jaai bebardasht kojaast

Jaan-e jaanast o gar jaai nadaarad che ‘ajab
Ien ke jaami talabad dar tan-e maa hast kojaast

Ghamzeye cheshm bahaane-st o zaan su havasist
Vaanke u dar pas-e ghamze-st delam khast kojaast

Parde’e roshan del bast o khiaalaat namud
Vaanke dar parde chonin parde’-e del bast kojaast

‘Aql taa mast nashod chun o cheraa past nashod
Vaanke u mast shod az chun o cheraa rast kojaast


Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi has written several letters whereof a complete translation has appeared in the French language. Letter # 3 has, as far as I know, not yet been translated into English. It shows his love for the grandchild of his son, Sultan Valad. Here is a part of this letter:

God opens doors!

I hope that the same God Who has shown us the path of separation will show us the path of union. God, Whose majesty is great and Whose grace is infinite, has said: ‘God is the All-sufficient Witness’ (Q 4:79)…

The face and the image of our dear child, the honour of the community, the crown of the scholars and the searchers, the possessor of different types of knowledge and the close friend of the saints, who is a hidden saint, a jewel of the mine, the light of his congregation, the most respected of those who are there, Jamal ad-din – may God, the Elevated bless him and give him the highest degree of seeing Him, and give him certainty and favour him above all His servants near Him!

His joyful, sincere (sincere in his generosity) and blessed face is in our eyes during the day and the night. The sweetness of his company of this fine person is so precious to us that the dust of forgetfulness cannot (because of the passing of time) make his face invisible to the eyes of our heart. The behaviour of that dear one causes the disappearance of the length of time.

However, this infinite thirst that we experience as well as that immense hunger cannot diminish by the imagination alone; never are we in a session or in a dhikr circle without experiencing a longing for this lovely child.

We put our hope in the One Who is the Owner of all and of all graces, He Who satisfies all needs – His majesty is exalted! – so that all hindrances may disappear like in the case of the throne of Bilqis and the body of Idries and that he arranges all in such a way that our thirsty eyes receive new light because of seeing that lovely child and ‘He is capable to respond to our request’.

quote:

Originally posted by dara shikoh:

quote:

describes the soul's separation from God and the mutual yearning to reunite

Is this anything else but samadhi?

Good question? the soul is never separated fm God.unity of the two is total samadhic bliss or nirvana as Buddha said.

Rumi is a 13th century Persian; Muslim poet, jurist, and theologian whose name literally means "Majesty of Religion." One reason for his popularity is that he is able to verbalize the highly personal and often confusing world of personal/spiritual growth and mysticism in a very forward and direct fashion. He does not offend anyone, and he includes everyone. The world of Rumi is neither exclusively the world of a Sufi, nor the world of a Hindu, nor a Jew, nor a Christian; it is the highest state of a human being — a fully evolved human. A complete human 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 the downtown New York art/performance/music scene." According to Professor Majid M. Naini, Rumi's life and transformation provide true testimony and proof that people of all religions and backgrounds can live together in peace and harmony. Rumi’s visions, words, and life teach us how to reach inner peace and happiness so we can finally stop the continual stream of hostility and hatred and achieve true global peace and harmony.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalal_ad-Din_Muhammad_Rumi

quote:

Originally posted by Joan d'Arc:
Rumi is a 13th century Persian; Muslim poet, jurist, and theologian whose name literally means "Majesty of Religion." One reason for his popularity is that he is able to verbalize the highly personal and often confusing world of personal/spiritual growth and mysticism in a very forward and direct fashion. He does not offend anyone, and he includes everyone. The world of Rumi is neither exclusively the world of a Sufi, nor the world of a Hindu, nor a Jew, nor a Christian; it is the highest state of a human being — a fully evolved human. A complete human 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 the downtown New York art/performance/music scene." According to Professor Majid M. Naini, Rumi's life and transformation provide true testimony and proof that people of all religions and backgrounds can live together in peace and harmony. Rumi’s visions, words, and life teach us how to reach inner peace and happiness so we can finally stop the continual stream of hostility and hatred and achieve true global peace and harmony.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalal_ad-Din_Muhammad_Rumi

Recently, I saw a very beautiful documentary on Rumi. It was narrated by the leader of an org name slips me in US. He has impacted present American new generation with his poetry.

quote:

Originally posted by Sunil:
RUMI

To make a start there is this charming quatrain
of
Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi (# 1218 in my edition of the Divan):

Dar bagh shodam sabuh o gol michiam
Vaz didan-e baaghbaan hami tarsidam
Shirin sokhani ze baaghbaan be shenidam
Gol raa cheh mahall keh baagh raa baghshidam

I was in the garden in the morning and I was gathering roses
And all the time I was afraid that the gardener would see me.
The gardener, however, only spoke these kind words:
‘A few roses are nothing as I give you the complete garden’.


Mawlana Rumi writes (# 84 in the edition of Foruzaanfar):

Chun gol hamaye tan khandam na az raahe dehaan tanhaa
Ziraa keh manam bi man baa shaah-e jahaan tanhaa

Like the rose, with my whole body I smile and not with my mouth alone;
Because I am, I without I, with the king of the world, alone.

Ai mash’ala-aawardah delraa besahar bordah
Jaan raa berasaan dar del delraa masataan tanhaa

O, bearer of the torch, ravisher of my heart until the early morning,
Lead my soul to my heart, do not take my heart alone!

Az khashm o hasad jaanraa bigaana makon baa del
Aan raa magozaar injaa vin raa bemakhaan tanhaa

Do not estrange my soul from my heart because of anger and envy,
That one, do not leave here and this one, do not invite alone!

Shaahaana payaami kon yak da’vate ‘aami kon
Taa kai bud ai soltaan ien baa to o aan tanhaa

Send a royal message, prepare a general invitation!
Until when, o king, this one with you and that one alone?

Chun dush agar emshab naayi o bebandi lab
Sad shur koniem ai jaan nakoniem foghaan tanhaa

If you, just like last night, do not come tonight and keep silent again,
We’ll cry out one hundred times, o soul, we do not lament alone!


Rumi writes, referring to the helping hand: (Foruzaanfar # 412):

The one who is able to make my soul intoxicated without wine, where is he?
And the one who is able to draw me outside of my soul and heart, where is he?

And the one by whom I swear, and I only swear on his head,
And the one who breaks my oath and my repentance, where is he?

And the one - early in the morning - who makes the souls cry out loud,
And the one whose grief has carried us away from our place, where is he?

He is the soul of souls - if he has no place, why would that be strange?
The one who searches for a cup and who is in our body, where is he?

The eyelids are only pretence and he has therefore capricious desires
And the one who from behind his eyelids wounds my heart, where is he?

The one who has closed the heart with a veil of light and gives visions to it,
And the one who has closed the veil of the heart with such a veil, where is he?

Reason is nothing compared to drunkenness; ‘why and when’ are ruined,
And the one who is intoxicated and is free from ‘why and when’, where is he?


The above sounds thus in Persian:

Aanke bi baade konad jaan-e maraa mast kojaast
Vaanke birun konad az jaan o delam dast kojaast

Vaanke saugand khoram joz besar-e u nakhoram
Vaanke saugand-e man o taubeyaam eshkast kojaast

Vaanke jaanhaa besahr na'ra zanaand azu
Vaanke maaraa ghamash az jaai bebardasht kojaast

Jaan-e jaanast o gar jaai nadaarad che ‘ajab
Ien ke jaami talabad dar tan-e maa hast kojaast

Ghamzeye cheshm bahaane-st o zaan su havasist
Vaanke u dar pas-e ghamze-st delam khast kojaast

Parde’e roshan del bast o khiaalaat namud
Vaanke dar parde chonin parde’-e del bast kojaast

‘Aql taa mast nashod chun o cheraa past nashod
Vaanke u mast shod az chun o cheraa rast kojaast


Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi has written several letters whereof a complete translation has appeared in the French language. Letter # 3 has, as far as I know, not yet been translated into English. It shows his love for the grandchild of his son, Sultan Valad. Here is a part of this letter:

God opens doors!

I hope that the same God Who has shown us the path of separation will show us the path of union. God, Whose majesty is great and Whose grace is infinite, has said: ‘God is the All-sufficient Witness’ (Q 4:79)…

The face and the image of our dear child, the honour of the community, the crown of the scholars and the searchers, the possessor of different types of knowledge and the close friend of the saints, who is a hidden saint, a jewel of the mine, the light of his congregation, the most respected of those who are there, Jamal ad-din – may God, the Elevated bless him and give him the highest degree of seeing Him, and give him certainty and favour him above all His servants near Him!

His joyful, sincere (sincere in his generosity) and blessed face is in our eyes during the day and the night. The sweetness of his company of this fine person is so precious to us that the dust of forgetfulness cannot (because of the passing of time) make his face invisible to the eyes of our heart. The behaviour of that dear one causes the disappearance of the length of time.

However, this infinite thirst that we experience as well as that immense hunger cannot diminish by the imagination alone; never are we in a session or in a dhikr circle without experiencing a longing for this lovely child.

We put our hope in the One Who is the Owner of all and of all graces, He Who satisfies all needs – His majesty is exalted! – so that all hindrances may disappear like in the case of the throne of Bilqis and the body of Idries and that he arranges all in such a way that our thirsty eyes receive new light because of seeing that lovely child and ‘He is capable to respond to our request’.

Sunil
Thks for posting these lovely words with the trans. Post a few more pls. Will copy n print.

Deepak Chopra loves his poetry and has referenced many in his books & lectures.