Rumi

Asalaamu Alaikum (May the peace and blessings of God be upon you.)

We were assigned a project in World History II class, the topic being "Revolution, Reaction, Reform."

Who did I pick for this great assignment in which I was surprisingly ecstatic about?

Rumi, of course.

Rumi is not just America's, but the world's best selling poet. And I am definitely one of his bajillion fans. Jalal ud Din Rumi was a Sufi Muslim born on September 30, 1207 in Balkh, a city of the Persian Empire or modern-day Afghanistan. This mystical whirling dervish was also known as "Melvana" or "Mawlana." Melvana was known for his tolerance of all religions :

"Christian, Jew, Muslim, shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river,

each has a secret way of being with the mystery, unique and not to be judged."

His major themes are love and religion. According to wikipedia, "His poetry has influenced Persian literature as well as Urdu, Punjabi and other Pakistani languages written in Perso/Arabic script e.g. Pashto and Sindhi. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats." His most famous works include Masnavi, Diwan-e-Shams-e-Tabrizi [[which was 35,000 couplets!]] and Fihi ma Fihi. He influenced many, many other great individuals including Sir Muhammad "Allama," or scholar, Iqbal. The most sketchy part of his life was that his best companion Shams-e-Tabrizi whom he never left behind, killed Rumi's son. If that has any truth to it, I find it quite creepy...

So for the project, I went to the public library [[which was renovated and it looks freaking amazing! I want to stay there all night in the comfy seats with a huge mug of hot chocolate]] to get two books, and my school library to get one.
From the public library: The Glance - Rumi translated by Coleman Barks; this one is so pretty, don't ya think? Rumi: The Big Red Book [Ah! I love this one. <3]
From the school library: Poetry Rocks!-World Poetry: "Evidence of Life," This one was aiiight. It barely had any Rumi, but it included Hafiz which was a plus.

 

So yeah. I am obsessed.

S u n l i g h t

Sunlight, fill this house again,

delighting friends, blinding enemies.

Come from behind the mountain.

Turn all stones red.

Ripen back the grapes gone sour.

Dress the fields, the garden, and the pasture,

with strands of every color.

Cure the lovers.

Let your face be openly here,

not covered with cloud.

Clarify what is

with direct, unfiltered, light.

From Rumi:The Big Red Book.

Also, I really want to praise this amazinggg blog - Faith786 . [[Click to see it.]] Her blog is a lot like mine except it's actually good...and people actually read it :D. She has the same interests, especially in poets (i.e. Hafiz and Rumi.) And she writes her own poems, and they're very good. Take a look at her blog if you want to see more poems by Rumi and others.

And last but not least, if you're looking for Islamic quotes, this site is so efficient. Just refresh the page for a new quote every time : Drops of Wisdom

PS - Please check out my newly updated Poetry page! Thanks :)

Khuda Hafiz (Translation: May God be your Guardian, or under the protection of God.) Always nice to greet and farewell someone with thoughtful words.

--Aysha