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of Shams”) is a true translation of his experiences into poetry; its language, however, never becomes lost in lofty spiritual heights or nebulous speculation. The fresh language, propelled by its strong rhythms, sometimes assumes forms close to popular verses. There would seem to be cause for the belief, expressed by chroniclers, that much of this poetry was composed in a state of ecstasy, induced by the music of the flute or the drum, the hammering of the goldsmiths, or the sound of the water mill in Meram, where R ū m ī used to go with his disciples to enjoy nature. He found in nature the reflection of theradiant beauty of the Sun of Religion and felt flowers and birds partaking in his love. He often accompanied his verses by a whirling dance, and many of his poems were composed to be sung in Sufi musical gatherings.
    Manuscript illumination from the
Manav ī –yi Ma‘nav ī
of R ū m ī , 1295–96; in the British Museum (MS. OR. 7693, fol. 225 b.)
. Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.
    A few years after Shams al-D Ä« n’s death, R Å« m Ä« experienced a similar rapture in his acquaintance with an illiterate goldsmith, á¹¢ ā l āḥ al-D Ä« n Zark Å« b. It is said that one day, hearing the sound of a hammer in front of á¹¢ al āḥ al-D Ä« n’s shop in the bazaar of Konya, R Å« m Ä« began his dance. The shop owner had long been one of R Å« m Ä« ’s closest and most loyal disciples, and his daughter became the wife of R Å« m Ä« ’s eldest son. This love again inspired R Å« m Ä« to write poetry. After á¹¢ ā l āḥ al-D Ä« n’s death, Ḥ us ā m al-D Ä« n Chelebi became his spiritual love and deputy. R Å« m Ä« ’s main work, the
Manav ī –yi
Ma‘nav ī
, was composed under his influence. Ḥ us ā m al-D ī n had asked him to follow the model of the poets ‘A ṭṭ ā r and San ā ’i, who had laid down mystical teachings in long poems, interspersed with anecdotes, fables, stories, proverbs, and allegories. Their works were widely read by the mystics and by R ū m ī ’s disciples. R ū m ī followed Ḥ us ā m al-D ī n’s advice and composed nearly 26,000 couplets of the
Manav Ä«
during the following years. It is said that he would recite his verses even in the bath or on the roads, accompanied by Ḥ us ā m al-D ī n, who wrote them down. The
Manav Ä«
shows all the different aspects of Sufism in the 13th century, and it reflects the experience of divine love; both Ṣ al āḥ al-D ī n and Ḥ us ā m al-D ī n were, for R ū m ī , renewed manifestations of Shams al-D ī n, the all-embracing light.
    R Å« m Ä« lived for a short while after completing the
Manav Ä«
. He always remained a respected member of Konya society, and his company was sought by the leading officials as well as by Christian monks. Ḥ us ā m al-D ī n was his successor and was in turn succeeded by Sul ṭ ā nWalad, who organized the loose fraternity of R ū m ī ’s disciples into the Mawlaw ī yah, known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes because of the mystical dance that constitutes their principal ritual. Sul ṭā n Walad’s poetical accounts of his father’s life are the most important source of knowledge of R ū m ī ’s spiritual development. His mausoleum, the Green Dome, today a museum in Konya, is still a place of pilgrimage for thousands of all faiths from around the world.

DANTE
----
    (b.
c
. May 21–June 20, 1265, Florence, Italy—d. Sept. 13/14, 1321, Ravenna)
    D ante Alighieri was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker who is best known for the monumental epic poem
La commedia
, later named
La divina commedia
(
The Divine Comedy
).
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