Authors In History: Jalaluddin Rumi

Jalaluddin Rumi, better known simply as Rumi, was perhaps the finest Persian poet of all time and a great influence on Muslim writing and culture. His poetry is still well known throughout the modern world, and his is one of the best selling poets in America.
He was the son of a renowned Sufi Scholar, and it is more likely that he was introduced to Sufisim from a young age. Sufism is a branch of Islam primarily concerned with developing spirituality, or more precisely the inner character of a Muslim.
Both he and his father were fir believers in the revelations of the Qu'ran, but criticised the more outwardly legal and ritual practice that was being promoted at the time. In fact, much of his work is dedicated to waking people up, and encouraging them to experience life themselves, rather than blindly following the scholars of the day.
He spent his early years, like many Muslins of the time, learning Arabic law, ahadith( the body of the sayings of The Prophet Muhammad(PBUH)), history, The Qu'ran, theology, philosophy, mathematics ad astronomy. At the age of twenty-four he was regarded as one of the highest scholars in the country.
He spent his time teaching and giving lectures to the public up until the age of thirty-five, lived a fairly non-descript life. In 1244 Rumi met a travelling Sufi called Shams (or Sham Tabrizi) and the whole course of his life changed. The general theme of Rumi's thought, like that of other mystic and Sufie poets of Persian literature, is that of "tawhid"-union with the Beloved, from whom he sees himself as being cut off and aloof.
Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry and dance as a path for reaching God. For Rumi, music helped devotees to focus their whole being on the divine and to do this so intensely that the soul was both destroyed and resurrected. It was from these ideas that the practice of Whirling Dervishes developed into a ritual form.
He lived most of his life under the Persionate Seljuq Sultanate of Rum, where he produced his works. He died in 1273 AD. 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 a splendid shrine was erected over his remains.