Encyclopedia of Islam

Rumi, Jalal al-Din

  

593  J

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Shams-i Tabriz, dedicated to Shams al-Din Tabrizi 

and totaling over 35,000 lines of poetry, and a col-

lection of rhymed couplets called the Mathnawi-i 

maanawi (also known as the Masnavi), which 

includes more than 25,000 lines of Persian verse. 

Rumi’s lectures and conversations were collected 

in a work called Fihi ma fihi (In it is what is in 

it). Important themes in Rumi’s poetry include 

the spiritual quest, the search for the inner sig-

nificance of words and practices, the unity of 

existence, and especially divine love.

After Rumi’s death, his followers formed the 

m

evlevi

  s

UFi

  o

rder

, which eventually became 

famous as the “whirling dervishes” for its stan-

dardized version of Rumi’s ecstatic samaa. The 

order also perpetuated Rumi’s memory through 

recitation of, and commentary on, the Math-

nawi. Rumi’s poetry has been immensely popular 

throughout the Muslim world, especially in Tur-

key and Iran. He has also recently enjoyed great 

popularity in Europe and the Americas due to 

translations and interpretations of his poetry in 

an accessible free verse style. Rumi’s poetry of love 

continues to touch people everywhere.

See also 

dhikr

;  p

ersian

 

langUage

 

and

 

litera

-

tUre

; s

UFism

; t

Urkey

.

Mark Soileau