Rumi
Jalal al-Din Muhammad of Balkh
- Born
- 1207, Balkh
- Died
- 1273, Konya
From Balkh to Konya: a jurist who became a poet after meeting Shams.
About
His family left Balkh ahead of the Mongol advance and, after years on the road, settled in Konya. Rumi was a teacher into middle age and had written no poetry at all.
The meeting with Shams of Tabriz in 1244 turned that around. Shams's disappearance three years later produced the Divan of Shams — ghazals Rumi signed with Shams's name rather than his own.
The Masnavi is the work of his last twenty years: six books dictated to Hosam al-Din Chalabi, opening with «Listen to this reed, how it complains».
Works
The Divan of Shams
Ghazals Rumi signed with the name of Shams of Tabriz rather than his own. The metres run fast, because they were made for the sema.
The Masnavi
Six books, over twenty-six thousand lines, dictated by Rumi in Konya to Hosam al-Din Chalabi. It opens with the reed and it ends unfinished.
Routes
Places
Events
Experiences
- Local experience
A sema evening in Konya
The sema ceremony at the lodge, with an explanation beforehand of what each movement means.