Rūmī

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Rūmī summary

Rūmī

Q: Who was Rūmī?

Rūmī was a great Sufi mystic and poet in the Persian language , famous for his lyrics and for his didactic epic Mas̄navī-yi Maʿnavī (“Spiritual Couplets”), which widely influenced mystical thought and literature throughout the Muslim world .

Q: What is Rūmī’s philosophy?

According to Rūmī’s philosophy, life should be a journey to union with the one true God, which is achieved by practicing love—by disregarding oneself as an independent being and turning toward the truth of God’s oneness. Aided by spiritual guides, one lives—loves—into that truth, gradually ascending to full knowledge of the one divine presence, then guiding others.

Q: What did Rūmī write about?

Rūmī’s experience of love, longing, and loss made him turn to poetry. He wrote mystical love songs to his mystic teacher Shams al-Dīn , the Prophet Muhammad, and God; ghazals (short lyric poems, each cohering by a unity of subject and symbolism rather than by a logical sequence of ideas); and many robāʿīyyāt (quatrains with the rhyme scheme aaba ).

Sufi mystic and poet

Also known as: Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī, Mawlānā

Written by Annemarie Schimmel

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Dec 13, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

In full:: Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī

Also called by the honorific:: Mawlānā

Born:: c. September 30, 1207, Balkh [now in Afghanistan]

Died:: December 17, 1273, Konya [now in Turkey]

Founder:: Mawlawīyah

Who was Rūmī?

What is Rūmī’s philosophy?

What did Rūmī write about?

Rūmī (born c. September 30, 1207, Balkh [now in Afghanistan]—died December 17, 1273, Konya [now in Turkey]) was the greatest Sufi mystic and poet in the Persian language, famous for his lyrics and for his didactic epic Mas̄navī-yi Maʿnavī (“Spiritual Couplets”), which widely influenced mystical thought and literature throughout the Muslim world. After his death, his disciples were organized as the Mawlawiyyah order. Rūmī’s use of Persian and Arabic in his poetry, in addition to some Turkish and less Greek, has resulted in his being claimed variously for Turkish literature and Persian literature, a reflection of the strength of his ...(100 of 1301 words)

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