Rumi 1207 – 1273
Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi was a thirteenth-century Persian poet, jurist, and Sufi mystic, born in what is now Afghanistan and settling at Konya in Anatolia. After his transformative encounter with the wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz, his teaching turned from formal scholarship to ecstatic poetry as the proper vehicle for the soul's love for the divine. His Masnavi-i Manavi, a six-volume didactic poem, has been called the Quran in Persian, and his lyrical Divan-i Shams-i Tabrizi remains one of the masterworks of world poetry. He founded the Mevlevi order, the whirling dervishes, who continue to practice his vision today.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Persian
- Era
- Medieval
- Movements
- Islamic, Medieval
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Rumi:
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.”
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Attributed to Rumi:
“What you seek is seeking you.”
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Attributed to Rumi:
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
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Attributed to Rumi:
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
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Attributed to Rumi:
“Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.”