Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi

Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi or Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi {{ref|Translit}} ?????? ???? ????? ???? ???? (September 30, 1207–December 17, 1273 CE) (also known as Mawlawi or Mawlana, meaning our guide or our lord in Arabic and Persian, or Mevlana meaning our guide in Turkish) was a Persian Muslim jurist, theologian, poet and Sufi mystic, who was born in Balkh (then a city of the Greater Khorasan province of Persia (Iran), now part of Afghanistan) and died in Konya (in present-day Turkey, then within the Seljuk Empire's territory). His birth place and native tongue points towards a Persian heritage. He also wrote his poetry in Persian, and is read widely in Iran and Afghanistan where the language is spoken. Yet, he is adored to such a degree that citizens of the modern Turkey, Pakistan, and India sometimes consider him one of their own.

Major works

Rumi's major work is Masnavi-ye Manavi (Spiritual Couplets), a six-volume poem regarded by many Sufis as second in importance only to the holy Qur'an. In fact, the Masnawi is often called the "Qur'an-e Farsi" (The Qur'an in Persian). It is considered by many to be one of the greatest works of mystical poetry. Rumi's other major work is the Diwan-e Shams-e Tabriz-i (The Works of Shams of Tabriz - named in honor of Rumi's great friend and inspiration, the dervish Shams), comprising some 40,000 verses. Both works are among the most significant in all of Persian literature. It is believed by some that Shams was murdered by disciples of Rumi who were jealous of his relationship with Shams (also spelt Shems).

Related Topics:
Masnavi-ye Manavi - Qur'an - Persian - Diwan-e Shams-e Tabriz-i - Shams - Persian literature

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Fihi Ma Fih is composed of Rumi's speeches on different subjects. Rumi himself did not prepare or write these discourses. They were recorded by his son Sultan Valad or some other disciple of Rumi and put together as a book. Some of the discourses are addressed to Muin al-Din Parvane. Some portions of it are commentary on Mesnevi.

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Majalis-i Sab-a contains seven sermons (as the name implies) given in seven different assemblies. As Aflaki relates, after Sham-i Tabrizi, Rumi gave sermons at the request of notables, especially Salah al-Din Zarqubi.

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