Rumi, Jalal al-Din

Rumi, Jalal al-Din (1207-1273), Persian poet and mystic. He was born in Balkh (sovr. Afghanistan) September 30, 1207. Rumi's father, Muhammad al-Balkhi enjoyed great prestige in Khorezm as a faqih, maintained contacts with Sufi sheikhs. Fearing persecution Khorezmshahs, . about which he spoke disapprovingly in his sermons, . and Mongols, . invaded the territory of the Caliphate, . Muhammad and his family left Balkh and eventually settled in Konya, . capital Rum, . as Muslims then called Asia Minor,
. Here, Muhammad al-Balkhi was headed by one of the most well-known madrassa, and after his death, it was replaced by Jalal ad-Din. Feeling the need to obtain a better religious education, Jalal al-Din for a few years left Konya and settled in Damascus and Aleppo, famed as centers of Muslim learning. Back in Konya, he again became head of madrassas and led the life of the venerable scholar, not even thinking about poetry lesson. 'I swear by Allah, - he wrote - I have never entertained any inclination to poetry, and in my eyes was the worst classes than it'.

Everything changed when he met with sixty dervish Shams al-Din Tabrizi. Shams al-Din, deeply convinced and passionate sufi, disciple of the world has opened up entirely new to him knowledge and experiences. Once the enemies of Shams al-Din was forced to leave Konya, separating him from Jalal ad-Din at the first time, and then forever (assuming that Shams al-Din was killed), Jalal al-Din was shocked, aroused in him a poetic gift. In memory of a friend he signed most of the poems included in the "Divan" (one of his major works) named Shams. In 1249 in the life of Rumi entered Salah al-Din, a resident of Konya, goldsmith. The representative of the artisans of the city, he brought Rumi to life poorer residents, helped him become a poet of the common. The death of Salah al-Din interrupted their communication - 'Moon covered by clouds'. But 'star has risen', which became Husam al-Din Chalyabi, faithful friend and assistant to poet. It was he who inspired Rumi now, and thanks to him appeared more extensive collection of verses - six parts "Masnavi", the famous "Poems about the hidden meaning". For several years, with a break down for years Chalyabi teacher improvised couplet, of which compose a poem. By counting the researchers, it consists of 25 632 bayts, ie. 51 264 lines, on volume exceeding the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey combined, and twice - "Divine Comedy" by Dante. The form "Masnavi" is a collection of parables, taken from various sources, as well as passing on or interpret the verses of the Quran. It is no accident, therefore it was called 'Persian Koran', a kind of transposition of the Holy Book into Persian. Proverbs, allegory, because of their imagery, symbolism, hidden meanings are allowed to pass through the system of word signs to reveal the essence of the teachings of the mystics of the Ways of God, the path of moral perfection, liberation from vices. That way asceticism, release from worldly attachments, and even the traditional ways of worship of God. 'Throw the fetters of existence', - proclaim Rumi. 'Before, my hand has always been on the Koran, but now she keeps a flask of Love'. Apart from the "Divan" (containing about 60 thousand lines) and the "Masnavi, Rumi left three prose works -" Fihi fihi ma '(' It is that in it '), "Manual" and "Letters". Religious and philosophical views, expressed in his writings, not original, and not systematically. But the well-known ideas about the meaning of life, he shifts the inspiration and lively and simple language.

'The desire for the Beloved obscured for me science and recitation of the Quran, and again I became obsessed and insane' - a feeling of spiritual ecstasy, filled with poems that are included in the "Divan". A quiet, sober mood, expressed in parables, "Masnavi," the basic desire of Rumi - to draw people's eyes to God, surrender to it completely through the improvement of the human spirit, the realization of it to 'act', life under the Law. 'Act - this knowledge, path - an act, but the truth - the achievement of God'.

Poetic gift and personal popularity of Rumi attracted to the teachings of the Sufis numerous admirers, and Konya turned into a Mecca of Sufism.

Rumi died in Konya (sovr. Turkey), December 17, 1273. When the town heard the news about the death of Jalal al-Din, thousands of people took to the streets: women, children, elders, artisans, apprentices, servants, merchants, peasants. Turks, Armenians, Greeks, Muslims, Jews, Christians read the Koran, the Talmud, singing psalms - all wanted to Rumi.

The great poet, which can often be seen on the streets to the sounds of swirling rebab and tambourine, otrinuvshy convention and opened to the love of God, died. But the time of Sufism as a scientist-in protest against the theological dogmas rooted in the past. Sufism itself acquires features of traditionalism and dogmatism. Established son Rumi Weleda Sufi order 'Maulaviya' gradually turned into a brotherhood of craftsmen, . traders, . 'folk bazaar' in the collection of elite circles of society, . a dance ritual and later canonized old theater performance.,