Jalaluddin Rumi (may God sanctify his holy spirit) who is commemorated every Mehr 8 (December 30) was one of the greatest Muslim saints and mystics. He has also been hailed by Western scholars as the greatest mystical poet of all time.1 And popularized versions of his poetry have made him the best-selling poet in America in recent years2 — after a period of over 700 years, during which his fame has endured in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.

The popularity of his poetry has spread in the West because of its heart-felt themes of lover-beloved mysticism, and its spiritual joy which seems to emanate even from the most distorted versions in English. However, the popularization of his poetry has also been attained by a number of sacrifices: a lack of accuracy of the meanings of his words and teachings; and a deliberate minimization and evasion of verses in his poetry that reveal that he was a pious Muslim all his life, and a very devoted follower of the prayerful daily life exemplified by the Prophet Muhammad (may God pour blessings upon him).

He was born in what is now the nation of Tajikistan (the country north of Afghanistan) in town of Wakhsh in 1207, where his father worked as a Muslim preacher and scholar. Wahksh was part of the cultural area of the ancient city of Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan), which had been a major center of Islamic learning for five hundred years before Rumi was born. His father, also a great mystic, or sufi master, was from Balkh. He named his son Muhammad, but later called him by the additional name, Jalâlu ‘d-deen (“the Glory of the Faith”). His full name was Jalâlu ‘d-deen Muhammad bin (= son of) Husayn al-Balkhî. Later, when he moved to Anatolia (present- day Turkey) with his family, he became known as Jalâlu ‘d-deen Muhammad al-Roomee. This is because Anatolia had been called for centuries “Rûm” (a form of “Rome”) which meant “the land of the Greeks” (who had long ruled the area from Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and later the Byzantine Empire). In the East, he has always been known as Mawlânâ (pronounced “Mowlânâ” in Iran, India, and Pakistan; pronounced “Mevlana” in Turkey). This means “our Master” in Arabic, and was traditionally a title given to Muslim scholars. However, due to his great fame, the respectful title “Mawlânâ” quickly came to refer primarily to Jalaluddin Rumi. Only in the West has he been called “Rumi.”

Rumi must have memorized much or all of the Holy Qur’an when he was young, because the Mathnawi and his other poetry are filled with direct quotes in Arabic, Persian paraphrases, and references to Qur’anic verses. He belonged to the Shia school of Islamic law. This means that his daily religious behavior was faithful to the many details of the Shia tradition of how to follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad.

Rumi’s first sufi master, Sayyid Burhânu ‘d-dîn Termezî, was his father’s leading sufi disciple who came to Anatolia after hearing of the death of Rumi’s father. Rumi was his sufi disciple for ten years, during part of which he was sent to Syria to obtain a traditional Islamic education. Sayyid Burhanuddin was also a profound mystic who instilled in Rumi a love of Persian sufi poetry and ordered him to do a number of lengthy solitary prayer retreats. Rumi was 37 years of age when he met his second sufi master, Shamsu ‘d-deen Muhammad al-Tabreezee (from Tabrîz), traditionally believed to have been about 60 years old. Then Rumi became real “RUMI” : The prominent Persian language poet, thinker and spiritual master. He remains one of the greatest thinkers and scholars of Islamic civilization.
He addressed humanity as a whole: “I do not distinguish between the relative and the stranger.”
On 30 September, Iranian school bells ring throughout the country in honor of Mowlana.
However, despite the aforementioned ecumenical attitude, and contrary to his contemporary portrayal in the West as a proponent of non-denominational spirituality, a select number of Rumi poems suggest the importance of outward religious observance, the primacy of the Qur”an and the superiority of Islam.

Flee to God”s Qur”an, take refuge in it

there with the spirits of the prophets merge.

The Book conveys the prophets” circumstances

those fish of the pure sea of Majesty.

Rumi”s approach to Islam is further clarified in this quatrain:

(Man banda-ye qur”ānam, agar jān dāram

man khāk-e rah-e muhammad-e mukhtāram

gar naql konad joz īn kas az goftāram

bēzāram azō waz-īn sokhan bēzāram.)

I am the servant of the Qur”an as long as I have life.

I am the dust on the path of Muhammad, the Chosen One.

If anyone quotes anything except this from my sayings,

I am quit of him and outraged by these words.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr states:

“One of the greatest living authorities on Rûmî in Persia today, Hâdî Hâ”irî, has shown in an unpublished work that some 6,000 verses of the Dîwân and the Mathnawî are practically direct translations of Qur”ânic verses into Persian poetry.”

Rumi died on 17 December 1273 in Konya; his body was interred beside that of his father, and a splendid shrine, the Ye?il Türbe (Green Tomb, قبه الخضراء; today the Mevlana Museum), was erected over his place of burial. His epitaph reads:

“When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men.”