Why Rumi Matters

Here are four reasons why I think that the 13th. Century Persian poet, Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (better known simply as Rumi), matters to the contemporary reader (particularly in the west):

1) He expresses, through his poetry, a powerful desire to find union with "the Beloved" (aka God, Allah, the Great Spirit, or the special one, a lover, maybe even someone who comes into your life for a brief moment and then departs seemingly forever). Rumi calls it "shakti"--a state of intense yearning that sometimes yields to happpiness and other times leads to grief and despair. Others might call this "rapture" or "ecstasy." It is a fundamental state of being that transcends all cultures and all religions. It grants our humanity a level of complexity and mysteriousness that cannot be explained logically, nor should it be. The wonder of Rumi is that his poems are written with an almost child-like simplicity yet do not sacrifice the multi-layered complexity demanded by the subject-matter.

2) Rumi wrote during a turbulent historical moment, much like ours today, and yet found ways to channel the surrounding social-political-religious anxieties into meaningful and inspiring works of art. By the time he had turned 50, he had witnessed his homeland in the Middle East and Central Asia suffer from invasions by Mongols under Genghis Khan from the east, and several Crusades from European armies in the west. Rather than leave us with poems that decry the human tendency towards war, however, he preferred to write poetry that could explore how to find wholeness and happiness amidst chaos and wide-scale suffering.

3) Rumi's fabled relationship with a wandering mystic called Shams of Tabriz added an intensity and power to his love poems that many readers can admire for their platonic idealism. For four years, Shams became a guru and guiding light for the younger Rumi. When Shams died (mysteriously and, some say, viciously at the hands of one of Rumi's jealous siblings), Rumi was heartbroken. He subsequently poured his grieving energies into poems that explored issues of friendship, love, sadness, joy, and the ephemerality of our lives. When you read Rumi, you are reminded that you are as full as the world around you and yet, at the same time, as empty as a dry leaf in autumn.

4) Rumi was the founder of the Mevlevi order of Sufi Muslims (popularly known as "the Whirling Dervishes" on account of the spinning dances they perform in worship). It would be a mistake to categorize Sufis simply as "the other face" of Islam. Nevertheless, reading Rumi does reaffirm Islam as a highly sophisticated religion capable of much joy and delight as well as a practice guided by structure and strict discipline.

It is no coincidence that Rumi's funeral procession was attended by Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. Nor is it a coincidence that Rumi's books of poetry today are best-sellers in the west. His appeal is universal and timeless. Even popular artists, from Madonna to Martin Sheen, have spoken of their deep allegiance to Rumi.

Perhaps the best indicator as to Rumi's current popularity in our cyber-driven world is the fact that a Google Search on the poet's name generates a staggering 5 million results--websites that are devoted to the poet or that pay homage to him in some form or another. Even Madonna would relish that kind of star appeal!