Rumi evolved the day he encountered God’s greatest gift, his companion Shams.
KARACHI: Jalaluddin Rumi, a master of wisdom and a fervent love poet, was born on September 30, 1207, on the plains of the Persian Empire. He is said to be the absolute mystical poet on the face of this earth. Rumi’s life has its own twist and turns; his two-year transformational journey began when he met his companion, Shams of Tabrez, a spiritual wanderer, who changed Rumi from a sober scholar to a fierce lover. The two were inseparable. Lost in a world of their own, they dwelled on ideas of self and the soul, to seek the countless levels of the love of God and learned the lessons of wisdom, spirituality and humanity.
Rumi evolved the day he encountered God’s greatest gift, his companion Shams. It is said that their love and friendship was so unfathomable that Rumi followed every path Shams told him to. The death of his true companion brought him enormous grief. It is said that it was the unspeakable sorrow of Shams’s death that made Rumi the soulful poet that he is. His words pour out the yearning and the desire that is incomparable with that of any other writer. His works extend universally, not only in the East, but also in the West. He is one of the most widely read poet in the world today.
The 13th-century philosopher produced 70,000 magnificent verses in only 25 years. He is remembered in history for his heartfelt love and the religious harmony that he spread all across the globe. Rumi is a Sufi poet who preached about the freedom of the soul. “Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.” He advocates that the soul is deep and to find something, one needs to look within.
Rumi’s work is an outburst of creativity and meaningfulness — he felt the true essence of love and grief. His intense sorrow made him produce endless streams of beautiful verses for the world to remember. His work has been translated from Persian into Urdu, Italian, English and many other languages. The majesty and poetic craft of Rumi will stay in our hearts and minds forever.
Misha Rizvi
Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2014.
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