The 100 Most Influential Writers of All Time (7 page)

(b.
c
. Sept. 30, 1207, Balkh [now in Afghanistan]—d. De
c
. 17, 1273)

J
al
ā
l al-D
Ä«
n R
Å«
m
Ä«
, the greatest Sufi mystic and poet in the Persian language, is famous for his lyrics and for his didactic epic
Ma
nav
Ä«
–yi
Ma‘nav
Ä«
(“Spiritual Couplets”), which widely influenced mystical thought and literature
throughout the Muslim world. After his death, his disciples were organized as the Mawlaw
Ä«
yah order.

Jal
ā
l al-D
Ä«
n's father, Bah
ā
' al-D
Ä«
n Walad, was a noted mystical theologian, author, and teacher. Because of either a dispute with the ruler or the threat of the approaching Mongols, Bah
ā
' al-D
Ä«
n and his family left their native town in about 1218. According to legend, in N
Ä«
sh
ā
p
Å«
r, Iran, the family met Far
Ä«
d al-D
Ä«
n ‘A
ṭṭā
r, a Persian mystical poet, who blessed young Jal
ā
l al-D
Ä«
n. After a pilgrimage to Mecca and journeys through the Middle East, Bah
ā
' al-D
Ä«
n and his family reached Anatolia (R
Å«
m, hence the surname R
Å«
m
Ä«
), a region that enjoyed peace and prosperity under the rule of the Turkish Seljuq dynasty. After a short stay at Laranda (Karaman), where Jal
ā
l al-D
Ä«
n's mother died and his first son was born, they were called to the capital, Konya, in 1228. Here, Bah
ā
' al-D
Ä«
n Walad taught at one of the numerous madrasahs (religious schools); after his death in 1231 he was succeeded in this capacity by his son.

A year later, Burh
ā
n al-D
Ä«
n Mu
ḥ
aqqiq, one of Bah
ā
' al-D
Ä«
n's former disciples, arrived in Konya and acquainted Jal
ā
l al-D
Ä«
n more deeply with some mystical theories that had developed in Iran. Burh
ā
n al-D
Ä«
n, who contributed considerably to Jal
ā
l al-D
Ä«
n's spiritual formation, left Konya about 1240. Jal
ā
l al-D
Ä«
n is said to have undertaken one or two journeys to Syria (unless his contacts with Syrian Sufi circles were already established before his family reached Anatolia); there he may have met Ibn al-‘Arab
Ä«
, the leading Islamic theosophist whose interpreter and stepson,
á¹¢
adr al-D
Ä«
n al-Qunaw
Ä«
, was Jal
ā
l al-D
Ä«
n's colleague and friend in Konya.

The decisive moment in R
Å«
m
Ä«
's life occurred on Nov. 30, 1244, when in the streets of Konya he met the wandering dervish—holy man—Shams al-D
Ä«
n (Sun of Religion)
of Tabr
Ä«
z, whom he may have first encountered in Syria. Shams al-D
Ä«
n cannot be connected with any of the traditional mystical fraternities. His overwhelming personality, however, revealed to Jal
ā
l al-D
Ä«
n the mysteries of divine majesty and beauty. For months the two mystics lived closely together, and R
Å«
m
Ä«
neglected his disciples and family so that his scandalized entourage forced Shams to leave the town in February 1246. Jal
ā
l al-D
Ä«
n was heartbroken; his eldest son, Sul
á¹­
ā
n Walad, eventually brought Shams back from Syria. The family, however, could not tolerate the close relation of Jal
ā
l al-D
Ä«
n with his beloved, and one night in 1247 Shams disappeared forever. In the 20th century it was established that Shams was indeed murdered, not without the knowledge of R
Å«
m
Ä«
's sons, who hurriedly buried him close to a well that is still extant in Konya.

This experience of love, longing, and loss turned R
Å«
m
Ä«
into a poet. His poems—
ghazals
(about 30,000 verses) and a large number of
rob
ā
‘
Ä«
y
ā
t
(“quatrains”)—reflect the different stages of his love, until, as his son writes, “he found Shams in himself, radiant like the moon.” The complete identification of lover and beloved is expressed by his inserting the name of Shams instead of his own pen name at the end of most of his lyrical poems. The
D
Ä«
v
ā
n-e Shams
(“The Collected Poetry of Shams”) is a true translation of his experiences into poetry; its language, however, never becomes lost in lofty spiritual heights or nebulous speculation. The fresh language, propelled by its strong rhythms, sometimes assumes forms close to popular verses. There would seem to be cause for the belief, expressed by chroniclers, that much of this poetry was composed in a state of ecstasy, induced by the music of the flute or the drum, the hammering of the goldsmiths, or the sound of the water mill in Meram, where R
Å«
m
Ä«
used to go with his disciples to enjoy nature. He found in nature the reflection of the
radiant beauty of the Sun of Religion and felt flowers and birds partaking in his love. He often accompanied his verses by a whirling dance, and many of his poems were composed to be sung in Sufi musical gatherings.

A few years after Shams al-D
Ä«
n's death, R
Å«
m
Ä«
experienced a similar rapture in his acquaintance with an illiterate goldsmith,
á¹¢
ā
l
āḥ
al-D
Ä«
n Zark
Å«
b. It is said that one day, hearing the sound of a hammer in front of
á¹¢
al
āḥ
al-D
Ä«
n's shop in the bazaar of Konya, R
Å«
m
Ä«
began his dance. The shop owner had long been one of R
Å«
m
Ä«
's closest and most loyal disciples, and his daughter became the wife of R
Å«
m
Ä«
's eldest son. This love again inspired R
Å«
m
Ä«
to write poetry. After
á¹¢
ā
l
āḥ
al-D
Ä«
n's death,
Ḥ
us
ā
m al-D
Ä«
n Chelebi became his spiritual love and deputy. R
Å«
m
Ä«
's main work, the
Ma
nav
Ä«
–yi
Ma‘nav
Ä«
, was composed under his influence.
Ḥ
us
ā
m al-D
Ä«
n had asked him to follow the model of the poets ‘A
á¹­á¹­
ā
r and San
ā
'i, who had laid down mystical teachings in long poems, interspersed with anecdotes, fables, stories, proverbs, and allegories. Their works were widely read by the mystics and by R
Å«
m
Ä«
's disciples. R
Å«
m
Ä«
followed
Ḥ
us
ā
m al-D
Ä«
n's advice and composed nearly 26,000 couplets of the
Ma
nav
Ä«
during the following years. It is said that he would recite his verses even in the bath or on the roads, accompanied by
Ḥ
us
ā
m al-D
Ä«
n, who wrote them down. The
Ma
nav
Ä«
shows all the different aspects of Sufism in the 13th century, and it reflects the experience of divine love; both
á¹¢
al
āḥ
al-D
Ä«
n and
Ḥ
us
ā
m al-D
Ä«
n were, for R
Å«
m
Ä«
, renewed manifestations of Shams al-D
Ä«
n, the all-embracing light.