Who was Mevlana Rumi?

Mevlana Jalalludin Rumi (1207-1273 CE) (ra) was the one of the greatest Sufi poets of all time, arguably the greatest Sufi poet ever.

Through metaphor, allegory and stories his mystical poetry explained the essential truths of spirituality in ways that attracted and interested people of many backgrounds. His works are filled with gems of wisdom which people may benefit from in different ways.

Through Rumi untold numbers of worldly irreligious people became spiritual and man spiritual people achieved gnostic understanding and harmony with the Divine.

Loved by many wise people, Rumi's works have raised the ire of many superficial and un-spiritual people who became baffled by the means he transmitted spiritual wisdom and love of the Divine through.

Rumi was born in the land of Balkh and he was the son of a learned scholar called Sheikh Bahauddin (ra). Young Rumi’s spiritual states started to show even in his early childhood when he started to get visions of saints and angels.

Rumi's father was a well loved teacher and a critic of the Greek philosophical systems that were influential at the time. Due to the plottings of certain scholars associated to these philosophical systems Sheikh Bahauddin  was forced to leave his homeland and begin a journey that would eventually see his relocation in the land that is now called Turkey.

Along with his followers the Sheikh experienced many interesting events in these years, as did young Rumi.  When the great Sufi writer Khwaja Fariduddin Attar (ra) observed the Rumi at six years old he noted his good qualities and saw in him potential. When Ibn Arabi (ra) saw the young Rumi he was even more impressed and hinted by metaphor that he saw in young Rumi that he would become a great spiritual teacher.

After a period in Baghdad Sheikh Bahauddin and his party (including Rumi who had by now become a quite learned young man) relocated to Konya in the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, welcomed greatly by the Sultan who lead the Sheikh's horse into the city himself.

When Mevlana Rumi was 24 his father Sheikh Bahauddin passed away. After a time he went to Syria to continue his studies and in the years he was their he became a notable scholar of the religion.

He was welcomed back in Konya with great honour and there he took up a teaching post, as a respected scholar of the religion, but one day a mysterious spiritual wanderer called Shamsuddeen Tabrizi (ra) arrived in the city. He worked in the humble trade of basket maker, but he had studied with many great spiritual teachers and had traveled the lands seeking spiritual wisdom. Shams had visited many famous spiritual teachers, but had not found one who could inspire him, in fact many of them had become his pupils. Shams influence on Rumi would change everything in an amazing way.

It was some time around the 28th November 1244 CE when Shams first spoke to Rumi as the scholar  was riding past on his mule, followed by his disciples. Shams had taken hold of the mule’s bridle and had challenged Rumi with some paradoxical questions that had shocked the intellectual faculties of Rumi to such a degree that he had fainted.

When Rumi awoke he invited Shams home to come and discuss things with him and the pair spent the next several weeks engaged in metaphysical, spiritual, philosophical and scientific discussion. Shams had found one whom he knew had greater potential than himself, Rumi had found one who could take his spiritual understanding to levels he had not imagined existed and had lit a spiritual light in Rumi and a new wonderful awareness of the Divine, an awestruck sense of love and wonder of God.

Rumi emerged into a new stage of his life in which he moved beyond being an exoteric (external) master of the religion to becoming an esoteric (internal) one. Through the influence of Shams he was struck with an outpouring of ideas and understandings that he would turn into beautiful poetry as a means of expressing it.
Rumi's poetry would be filled with an outpouring of wisdom, expressed through the means of metaphor and story.

In 1246 CE Shams disappeared, it was not the first time he had done so, but this time he did not reappear again with stories of travels, or travels unspoken of. This time he did not return. Mevlana Rumi mourned Sham's disappearance greatly as to him he had become a spiritual father and friend of unimaginable value. Rumi now put on a simple hat and made this his way of dressing, and a wide cloak and many of his followers have dressed this way ever since.

Rumi’s spiritual outpouring continued and his poetry would be recorded in his great Mathnavi, a book which  would often transport the inner meanings of Islamic spirituality to all types of people, be they Muslims or non-Muslims. It would become known not only as a great work of spiritual science but also as a wonderful work of Persian poetry. Rumi's influence would become a benevolent light that would spread both love of God, brotherly love and love and mercy for the creatures in many places for many long years. It still does. 

Further reading Rumi on Abode of Mercy