Rumi
Person
Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), commonly known as Rumi, was a Sufi mystic, poet, and founder of the Islamic brotherhood known as the Mevlevi Order. His family hailed from Balkh. Rumi is an influential figure in Sufism, and his thought and works loom large both in Persian literature and mystic poetry in general. Today, his translated works are enjoyed all over the world. The rapidly advancing Mongol hordes forced his family to flee west early on in his life. After spending time in various cities across Iran, Baghdad, and Damascus, he settled in Konya with his family at age 19. Until recently, Konya had been a province of the Eastern Roman Empire, hence his name, Rumi, i.e. "the Roman". Although he was exposed to Sufi thought from his early childhood, he was expected to follow his fathers footsteps as an Islamic scholar. However, the arrival to Konya of the mysterious wandering dervish, Shams Tabrīzī, would alter the course of his life permanently. R…