Jalaladdin Rumi is a Persian Sufi poet who lived in the 13th century. To many, he is known by the name of Mevlan. This is a sage and mentor, whose teaching has become a model of moral growth. We will talk about the biography and works of this great thinker in this article.
What is Sufism?
To begin with, we briefly explain why Rumi is considered a Sufi poet. The fact is that Sufis were called followers of Sufism, the Islamic esoteric movement, which was characterized by high spirituality and asceticism. It arose in the 7th century.
Jalaladdin Rumi: biography
The great poet was born in 1207 in the city of Balkh, which was located in the north of present-day Afghanistan. Bach ad-Din Valad, his father, was a famous theologian in those years. He considered himself a spiritual and ideological follower of the famous mystic and Sufi al-Ghazali.
In 1215, the family of Valad was forced to flee his hometown on the pretext of a pilgrimage to Mecca. The thing was that Rumi was afraid of possible reprisals by the Khorezmshah, against whose policies the preacher often spoke out.
On the way to Rum, travelers had to make a stop in Nashapur. Here the whole family met with the lyricist Firuddin Attar, the famous Sufi preacher and teacher. Attar immediately saw the gift of speech in the son of Valad and predicted a great future for him, not only as a poet, but also as a spiritual mentor. In parting, Firuddin gave young Rumi a very valuable gift - the “Book of Secret”. Jalaladdin never parted with her throughout her life, keeping her as the most precious.
Relocation to Room
There is a story that happened in Damascus. Ibn al-Arabi, a famous Sufi and teacher, when he saw Rumi, who followed his father, he said: "Look at the ocean that follows the lake."
Jalaladdin Rumi and his family wandered for a long time after leaving Balkh. In the end, Valad decided to stay in Konya, the capital of Ruma. In those years, this city became a haven for all who fled from the Mongol raids that devastated Islamic territory. Therefore, there were many poets, scientists, mystics and theologians.
Rumi lived here for a long time. And soon he met one elderly Sufi named Shams ad-Din, whose views greatly influenced the formation of a young man. It was Shams who was able to rekindle in Jalaladdin’s heart the very total and comprehensive mystical love that later became the basis of the poet’s creativity.
Rumi's look at faith in God
Jalaladdin Rumi spent a lot of time in conversations with Shams ad-Din, which the followers of the first did not like. It ended up with Shams being sentenced to death and brutally murdered.
Incredible grief befell Rumi, who lost the person closest to himself. This led to the fact that the poet became even more acutely aware of reality. Left alone with pain and death, the poet felt what injustice and cruelty were. He begins to be tormented by questions about how fair, a loving and kind God could allow such evil to occur on earth, because everything is subject to him, and nothing happens beyond his will.
From these thoughts the basis of Rumi's philosophy gradually begins to take shape. The poet understands that God is nothing but love for God, which by its nature is limitless and all-consuming. Like other adherents of Sufism, Rumi was extremely negative about intellectual reasoning. Therefore, he was more interested in imagery, and made comparisons between the love of God and the state of intoxication, which leads to ecstasy and madness. Rumi believed that only true recklessness and going beyond the usual boundaries can lead a person to true sobriety and the ability to break free from the shackles of rationality and mind.
Only unlimited trust in Existence (the process of life) can allow a person to feel the ease and freedom of being and understand that life and everything that happens in it exists by its incomprehensible laws, in which there is logic, but it is not subject to the human mind. The main thing that a person needs to master is trust and acceptance of what is happening as it is, because the fact that an inquiring mind, trying to find a pattern, will seek only nonsense, is the deepest sacred meaning.
The issue of free will
Jalaladdin Rumi, the poet’s books confirm this, seriously thought about the problem of free will - does each of us have our own destiny, which determines our whole life, or human life - a blank sheet on which we can write our own history, guided only by desires. However, Rumi understood that no one will ever be able to resolve the disputes of the adherents of these points of view, since it is impossible to find a true answer by logical reasoning. Therefore, the poet believed that this question should be transferred from the area of ​​the mind to where "the heart reigns."
A man full of love for God merges with the universal ocean of life. After that, no matter what action he performs, it will not belong to him, it will come already from the ocean. Despite the fact that a person considers himself to be something separate, he remains another wave on the water surface. However, if he looks deep into himself, turns away from the external, begins to focus on the center, and not on the periphery, he will understand that all Existence is indivisible and united. A comprehensive and all-encompassing love can transform a person so much that the questions that had tormented him so much before will disappear by themselves. He begins to feel the unity with Being itself, which gives him a sensation that can be described as "I am God."
Sufi Brotherhood
After the death of Shams, Rumi becomes a teacher in a Muslim school. Here he applies a new method for teaching - introduces students to the Koran, using Sufi traditions.
He attached great importance to chants, dances and music of Jalaladdin Rumi. The poet's poetry reflects his view of these arts: earthly music seemed to him a reflection of the melodies of the celestial spheres, which mean the great mystery of creation; The dervish dance was the personification of the dance of the planets, filling the Universe with glee and joy.
In the same years, Rumi created the Sufi brotherhood of Maulaviya, where great importance is attached to the founder’s teachings. The organization continued to exist after the death of the poet and gradually spread throughout the Ottoman Empire. In some Muslim countries, it exists to this day. Young men are accepted into the fraternity, who after consecration must live in the monastery for 3 years.
Death
In recent years, Rumi has devoted jurisprudence and literary creation. The poet died in 1273 at the age of 66 in the city of Konya.
Today, Jalaladdin Rumi is recognized as the greatest mystic of all time. His philosophical views and the foundations of the teachings were reflected in poetry, which he considered the best way to express his gratitude and love to the divine.
Features of creativity
One way or another, but first of all, Rumi was therefore. The lyrical “Sofa” includes various poetic genres: rubyi, gazelles, kasydy. Preached in them the idea of ​​the value of human life and denied the formalism, ritualism and scholasticism of Rumi Jalaladdin. The Poem on the Hidden Meaning, included in the Masnavi collection, most vividly reflected these ideas.
Despite the fact that the poems were written within the framework of religious idealism, they often evoked revolutionary sentiments and even the performances of the masses.
Masnavi
Not so long ago, the book “The Road of Transformations. Sufi parables ”(Jalaladdin Rumi). But few people know that this is not a complete work, but only part of a large epic-didactic poem, numbering approximately 50,000 verses, which is called “Masnavi”. Translated means "couplets."
In this work in the form of instructive stories with lyrical and moral preaching, Rumi preaches his ideas. Masnavi as a whole can be called an encyclopedia of Sufism.
There is no single plot in the poem. But all stories are united by a single mood, which is expressed in rhymed couplets, sustained in a single rhythm.
Masnavi is one of the most widely read and respected works of the Muslim world. As for world literature, the poem brought Rumi the title of the greatest pantheist poet.
Jalaladdin Rumi Quotes
Here are a few quotes from the poet:
- “You were born winged. Why crawl through life? ”
- "Do not be sad. All that is lost will return to you in a different guise. ”
- "To repeat other people's words does not mean to understand their meaning."
Despite the past centuries, Rumi's poetry and philosophy continues to enjoy great popularity not only among Muslim peoples, but also among European ones.