The 100 Most Influential Writers of All Time by Britannica Educational Publishing Read Free Book Online

M Ī
----
    (b.
c
. Sept. 30, 1207, Balkh [now in Afghanistan]—d. De
c
. 17, 1273)
    J al ā l al-D Ä« n R Å« m Ä« , the greatest Sufi mystic and poet in the Persian language, is famous for his lyrics and for his didactic epic
Manav ī –yi
Ma‘nav ī
(“Spiritual Couplets”), which widely influenced mystical thought and literaturethroughout the Muslim world. After his death, his disciples were organized as the Mawlaw ī yah order.
    Jal ā l al-D Ä« n’s father, Bah ā ’ al-D Ä« n Walad, was a noted mystical theologian, author, and teacher. Because of either a dispute with the ruler or the threat of the approaching Mongols, Bah ā ’ al-D Ä« n and his family left their native town in about 1218. According to legend, in N Ä« sh ā p Å« r, Iran, the family met Far Ä« d al-D Ä« n ‘A ṭṭā r, a Persian mystical poet, who blessed young Jal ā l al-D Ä« n. After a pilgrimage to Mecca and journeys through the Middle East, Bah ā ’ al-D Ä« n and his family reached Anatolia (R Å« m, hence the surname R Å« m Ä« ), a region that enjoyed peace and prosperity under the rule of the Turkish Seljuq dynasty. After a short stay at Laranda (Karaman), where Jal ā l al-D Ä« n’s mother died and his first son was born, they were called to the capital, Konya, in 1228. Here, Bah ā ’ al-D Ä« n Walad taught at one of the numerous madrasahs (religious schools); after his death in 1231 he was succeeded in this capacity by his son.
    A year later, Burh ā n al-D Ä« n Mu ḥ aqqiq, one of Bah ā ’ al-D Ä« n’s former disciples, arrived in Konya and acquainted Jal ā l al-D Ä« n more deeply with some mystical theories that had developed in Iran. Burh ā n al-D Ä« n, who contributed considerably to Jal ā l al-D Ä« n’s spiritual formation, left Konya about 1240. Jal ā l al-D Ä« n is said to have undertaken one or two journeys to Syria (unless his contacts with Syrian Sufi circles were already established before his family reached Anatolia); there he may have met Ibn al-‘Arab Ä« , the leading Islamic theosophist whose interpreter and stepson, á¹¢ adr al-D Ä« n al-Qunaw Ä« , was Jal ā l al-D Ä« n’s colleague and friend in Konya.
    The decisive moment in R Å« m Ä« ’s life occurred on Nov. 30, 1244, when in the streets of Konya he met the wandering dervish—holy man—Shams al-D Ä« n (Sun of Religion)of Tabr Ä« z, whom he may have first encountered in Syria. Shams al-D Ä« n cannot be connected with any of the traditional mystical fraternities. His overwhelming personality, however, revealed to Jal ā l al-D Ä« n the mysteries of divine majesty and beauty. For months the two mystics lived closely together, and R Å« m Ä« neglected his disciples and family so that his scandalized entourage forced Shams to leave the town in February 1246. Jal ā l al-D Ä« n was heartbroken; his eldest son, Sul á¹­ ā n Walad, eventually brought Shams back from Syria. The family, however, could not tolerate the close relation of Jal ā l al-D Ä« n with his beloved, and one night in 1247 Shams disappeared forever. In the 20th century it was established that Shams was indeed murdered, not without the knowledge of R Å« m Ä« ’s sons, who hurriedly buried him close to a well that is still extant in Konya.
    This experience of love, longing, and loss turned R Å« m Ä« into a poet. His poems—
ghazals
(about 30,000 verses) and a large number of
rob ā ‘ ī y ā t
(“quatrains”)—reflect the different stages of his love, until, as his son writes, “he found Shams in himself, radiant like the moon.” The complete identification of lover and beloved is expressed by his inserting the name of Shams instead of his own pen name at the end of most of his lyrical poems. The
D ī v ā n-e Shams
(“The Collected Poetry