On September 30, 1207, in Balkh, Afghanistan, Jalal al-Din Rumi, one of the most influential Sufi mystics to ever live, was born. Chaos and uncertainty bounded as Mongol armies constantly threatened to invade the land. The Crusades were raging in the West. People and ideas were on the move. Much of Rumi’s childhood was spent in fear and insecurity as tumultuous political and social disorder consumed the region, then part of the Persian Empire. Persians and
Afghans first knew Rumi as “Jelaluddin Balkhi.” It wasn’t until Rumi’s father moved the family to Konya, Turkey – roughly a decade after Rumi’s birth, seeking safety – that he became known as Rumi, meaning, “from Roman Anatolia.”
Rumi’s father, Baha al-Din, was a theologian, preacher, jurist and mystic of uncertain lineage who was renowned for his religious knowledge and well respected for his spiritual greatness. Baha al-Din was well known, inheriting material and spiritual wealth as well as high social status from his father. When Baha al-Din died, Rumi was in his early 20s and the young scholar succeeded his father as spiritual leader (shaykh), jurist and mystic. It would take Rumi another ten years of studying with a former student of his father, Burhannuddin Mahaqquq, to grasp the wisdom of the secret inner life and fully become acknowledged as the new “King of Scholars” in his own age.
It seems Rumi lived a fairly typical life as a religious scholar and community leader – teaching, praying, meditating, and helping the poor – until sometime in the fall of 1244 when he met a stranger, a wandering dervish (poor ascetic), Shams of Tabriz. This meeting would transform Rumi. The two friends enjoyed an ecstatic connection (wajd – ecstasy) and were inseparable. Rumi was becoming an ascetic (faqir) and stayed away from his community, locked in close conversation only with Shams. This caused great difficulties in the religious community. The people wanted their teacher back. Shams sensed the growing anger and disappeared. This is when Rumi turned into a mystic poet.
Later, Shams and Rumi were reunited and once again jealousy began as the two locked themselves away in mystical conversation. Shams would disappear again, this time for good – he was likely murdered by Rumi’s religious followers (murids) out of jealous rage. Rumi went searching for his friend in Damascus, and this is when he realized that there was no need to seek anyone, he and Shams were one. In Sufism (Tasawwuf) this is called the annihilation (fana), losing one’s ego (nafs) to obtain union with the divine. The last twelve years of Rumi’s life would be spent composing his masterwork, the Mathnawi, until his death on December 17, 1273.
When Rumi died, his followers (disciples known as murids) founded the Mevlevi Sufi Order, a tariqa (path or way), in Konya, Turkey. Mevlevi is a Turkish name for Mevlana/Mawlana, meaning “our master,” by which Rumi came to be known. Most tariqas are named after a famous master. Tariqas are formed by groups of people who follow the specific teachings of a master (shaykh). The master-disciple (murad, one who is desired) – (murid, one who desires) relationship is a vital component of Sufism.
In order for a disciple to enter into a relationship with a master, total obedience is required. The murid (one who desires) “renounces the lower self and replaces it with a purified self made possible by the annihilation of the master’s ego,” according to Sufism expert Carl Ernst.
Rumi’s murids believed that Rumi’s mystical poetry; especially his masterwork the Mathnawi – an accumulation of parables, outbursts and thoughts in the form of poetry – and ritual exercises expressed a revelation into the meaning of the Qur’an. The authority of the shaykh comes from acknowledging the Prophet Muhammad as the main source for the Sufi lineage, the first link in the family chain (silsilas) of master to disciple forming a genealogy. This symbolism of lineage is often used in a ritual of writing the names of all the shaykhs in an order to form a genealogical tree (shajara), showing the links (silsilas) to the master of the Sufi order. By following the master (shaykh), the disciples are able to enter the spiritual life through a “mystical transmission.”
The Mevlevi Order is widely known as the whirling dervishes, called this because of their ritual practices of dhikr (remembrance) in the form of meditative turning, which usually occurs in a musical ceremony (sama). The order traces this form of meditation all the way back to Rumi. This method of devotional practice is seen as a way to experience God directly. By turning toward the truth and growing with love, the dervishes (ascetics) are able to let go of their egos and become closer to God.
