Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. – Rumi
There are poets of all kinds: from the composers of nursery rhymes to the authors of epics and hymns. Among them are some that touch us at our core. They seem to be inspired by a cosmic awareness which they transmit to us through the rhythm of words and meditative musings. William Blake and Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Mary Oliver, Sundarar and Rabindranath Tagore are only a few of them. One of the outstanding poets of this kind in the Sufi (Islamic) tradition was Jalaluddin Rumi. Often referred to by the honorific Maulana, Rumi, an Afghan of Persian vintage, jolts the reader with sparks of spiritual wisdom, infusing us with a vision of who we really are.
At 24, he wrote with depth on the religion and science of his day. But he underwent an epiphany at the age of 37 when he chanced to meet a certain Shams Tabrizi. The writings which followed from his mystical experiences reveal that he was intoxicated with the Divine. This has parallels in the Hindu world and in Christian Gnosticism. Rumi’s writings reached far and wide even in those pre-printing centuries when manuscripts had to be meticulously copied for preservation and propagation.
Sufism is regarded by many – not all – as an integral part of Islam. It is very much like the Hindu bhakti mode where unadulterated love (of God) trumps theology and temple-going, pilgrimage and rote-chanting. Some have argued that Sufism was part of the spiritual genius of Persia. They interpret it as a re-affirmation of Persian spiritual insights which came to the fore as reaction to Arab Islam on its soil.
Be that as it may, Rumi was undoubtedly the greatest of all Sufis. His Mathnavivi Mahavi has been described as the Sufi Bible. He reminded us: “You are the universe in ecstatic motion.” Knowingly or not, Rumi was echoing here the Upanishadic revelation tat tvam asi: Thou art that (cosmic consciousness). He goes on to say that our heart is as grand as the ocean and that we should find our self in the depth of that cosmic sea.
Rumi recognized the Socratic injunction when he said, “What you are seeking is you.” He said, not as consolation but as conviction, “Do not grieve. Whatever you lose comes back in another form.” He asserted that cleverness tries to change the world, and wisdom, to change oneself. He reminded us that we should elevate our thoughts, not our voice, by saying that it is rain that brings out blossoms, not thunder. He taught that things are “beautiful, fair and lovely” for the eyes of those who see, meaning that if one does not have the vision, one cannot see beauty, truth and the spiritual grandeur of the world embedded in the self.
Rumi wrote extensively on Love with a capital L, saying we are never separated from the ones we genuinely love. He described love of God as flight toward a secret sky. He declared that in the context of love, all reason melts down. He declared that angels and devil are there to enable us to exercise our freewill. When we are pushed to our knees, he said, we are in the perfect posture to pray.
To make us understand that we are more than our physical bodies he said, “I am not this hair or this skin. I am the soul within.” The mystic poet wrote, “I want to sing like the birds, without worrying about who hears or what others think.”
This prolific poet who wrote a Book of Odes and Spiritual Couplets which expounded to the world what Sufism is all about, also participated in the Crusades, married twice, was once divorced and once widowed.
A major service rendered to the world by post 18th century Western scholars was the transportation of local cultures and wisdom to the world stage. The process had its imperfections, especially in matters religious because it is hard, perhaps impossible, for alien scholars to merge with the spiritual and emotional framework of local cultures. As a result, as soon as Western renditions of Non-western works came within reach of everybody, they came to be criticized and castigated by the indigenous peoples: What one forgets in such valid complaints and understandable reactions is that it was because of the scholarly dedication of the non-locals that regional repositories of lore and literature, Non-Western wisdom and science became global, for all to enjoy and appreciate, in however modest and mistaken a manner.
Rumi is among those who belong to the human family, not just to this linguistic tradition or that culture. Since it is on such themes that I like to reflect, I put Rumi on my list. It is thanks to R. A. Nicholson’s English translation of Rumi that I am able to appreciate and share Rumi’s wisdom with Non-Persian readers.
Spurts of Thought 