Rumi

Description

Rumi (1207–1273), venerated as ‘Mevlana’ (‘our master’), is the most famous exponent of the mystical tradition of Islam. The Mevlevi order of dervishes, celebrated for their ecstatic music and dance, was organized by Rumi’s eldest son on the basis of his teachings. He spent most of his life in Konya in Rum (modern Anatolia), whence the name ‘Rumi’. His longest work, the Mathnavi, has held its reputation in the eastern lands of the Islamic world as the most revered text after the Qur’an. Echoes of the Qur’an, and traces of Rumi’s training as a jurist or faqih, are evident throughout his writings. Interest in Rumi in the West has recently evolved into something like a cult, which, as Schimmel argues, does not do justice to the spiritual passion and insights of Rumi’s Mathnavi and Divan. In this compact essay Schimmel sketches the major landmarks and influences in Rumi’s life, his religious and cultural background, the dominant strands of imagery, and the range of tone and anecdote that animate his poetry. She explains why Rumi’s work must be understood in the Persian literary and the Islamic religious traditions to which it belongs. It is through those traditions that Rumi experienced and expressed the Divine Love that peoples of all faiths immediately recognize and affirm. In the closing chapters Schimmel reviews modern scholarship and translations of Rumi’s works, in West and East, and answers the question ‘What does Rumi mean to us in the modern world?’

Table of contents

Editor's note
Foreword
1. Life and work
2. Mevlana's poetical work
3. The religious foundations
4. Thoughts about God
5. Mevlana Rumi as teacher
6. The mysterium of love
7. What does Rumi's work mean to us?
8. Bibliographical information
Notes
Index