Unfold your own myth

Don’t be satisfied with stories,
how things have gone with others.
Unfold your own myth.

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī and more popularly simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century Sufi mystic and Persian poet. His mystical poetry has a universal appeal, which has made him one of the most celebrated poets of the modern age.

Rumi was born in Wakhsh (present-day Tajikistan), in what is now Afghanistan. He frequently travelled throughout his life, due to the political turmoils of his era. After the Mongol invasion of Central Asia around 1215, Rumi’s family moved steadily westward. They visited Baghdad (in modern-day Iraq), Persia (modern-day Iran) and made a pilgrimage to Mecca. The family finally settled in Konya (modern-day Turkey). Rumi was brought up in the Islamic faith and became well acquainted with the Quran. He became a celebrated scholar and was admired for his learning. At the age of 25, Rumi took up a position as the Islamic Mmolvi of a madras in Konya. Although following the Sufi path, he became an Islamic jurist and gave sermons in the mosques of Konya.

However, his life changed when he met the wandering Sufi mystic Sham al-Din in 1244. This meeting had a profound impact on Rumi; he felt Sham to be a divinely inspired person, and he took him to be his Guru. Under the guidance of Sham, Rumi lost interest in the more cerebral academic studies and became enamoured of the way of the mystic – the path of the heart. Rumi became an ascetic, and devoted himself to the unorthodox spiritual path.

Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Tajiks, Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, other Central Asian Muslims, and the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats.

Thanks to Antar Marc