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Rumi and the Sufi Tradition

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Rumi Web links abound. An Internet search yielded more than 6,000 results. Amazon.com lists 114 books by and about Rumi. Who was Rumi? Why does his poetry still resonate so powerfully? Why does the 13th century Sufi mystic's influence continue to grow and spread throughout the world? A recently published monograph, Rumi and the Sufi Tradition by John A. Moyne, helps to answer these questions. Moyne gives us an account of Rumi's life, thought and poetry within the larger context of Sufi and Islamic history and tradition. To summarize the book: Sufism began as an intellectual movement within Islam around the 8th century A.D. As a result of its openness to other religions and philosophies, it came to incorporate non-Islamic influences, among them: Gnosticism, Neo-platonism, Christianity and Buddhism. By the 12th and 13th centuries, the Sufi movement achieved its greatest influence. It was during this time that Jalaluddin Rumi lived. Born in northern Persia in 1207, he spent most of his adult life in Konya, Roman Anatolia. He followed in his father's footsteps as a distinguished scholar, preacher and judge. At age 24, Rumi was initiated into Sufism's mystical secrets by the Sufi master, Burhanuddin Muhaqqiq. At age 37, Rumi's life changed dramatically when Shams al-Din of Tabriz, a wandering dervish, arrived in Konya. It was under Shams' tutelage that Rumi's ecstatic mysticism evolved and came to incorporate song, dance and poetry into its rituals. The purpose was to attain a state of fana, "nothingness," i.e., the dissolution of the self in ecstatic union with God, through the practice of sama, a ritual dance, in which the dancer whirls himself into a trance while chanting poetry and verses of the Koran. It was Shams who inspired Rumi to write the poetry that is so ardently admired today. Rumi's poetry can be as simple and enigmatic as haiku. More often it is inventive and lyrical. Its emotional outpouring of love and longing, of intoxication with divinity and nature, blends an opulent sensuality with expressions of spiritual ecstasy. Love is the cornerstone of Rumi's poetry, as it is of his mysticism. Love, in all its forms, is the primary means of transcending self; spiritual love, in particular, is the ultimate transcendent experience. The spiritual experience is paramount; religious doctrine is secondary. "I am like a flute," Rumi says "With a single note, tuned for 200 creeds." In a time when the murderous violence of religious and ethnic fundamentalists are tearing the world's peoples apart, it may well be Rumi's message of love and tolerance that best explains his enduring appeal. I am not Christian or Jew, Gabr or Muslim. I am not from the East or the West . . . My place is no place. . . I have no body or soul, I am the soul of the beloved. I am free from duality . . . I see the two worlds as one. . . (From Rumi and the Sufi Tradition by John A. Moyne)