The status and stature of Maulana Rumi is accepted and acknowledged across the world. Scholars and intellects have been studying Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi’s words and been analysing his thoughts which reveal a deeper mystical meaning to his thought process, cognitive prowess and his comprehension of the human ego, will and mind.
Regarded as one of the greatest poetical intellects, Rumi remained an Islamic dervish during most parts of his life while striving to unearth the secrecies of human life and soul. As a Sufi mystic, Rumi is known worldwide and is the most-read poet in the United States.
Authors have penned books discussing Rumi’s life and work and the way he did decode, through his poetry, the hidden meaning of life. These include “Rumi – The path of love” by Thomas Moore, Camille Helminski, Camille, Kabir Helminski; “Unseen Rain” by John Moyne’ “Rumi’s Daughter” by Muriel Maufroy; “A little book of mystical secrets” by Maryam Mafi; “Rumi – The book of love” by Coleman Barks among others.
One such book on Rumi is Mawlana Rumi – Bridge of East & West edited and annotated by M Ikram Chaghatai. Published by Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore, the book comprises 36 chapters each written by a different author displaying their innate opinion on how Rumi affected the many facets of life he pondered upon.
In the preface, M Ikram Chaghatai explores how the Western powers, especially the colonial powers of Europe, used orientalism to expand their political supremacy. He mentioned Edward Said’s “Orientalism” and Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall’s “Mines of the Orient” in this connection. Chaghatai expressed the willingness of the Western authors to bridge the East and the West by reading Rumi and finding commonalities pertaining in the Eastern and Western thought. The preface is a fitting opening piece to this book on Rumi for his poems and teachings have, to a literary extent, bridged the East and the West.
Published by Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore, the book comprises 36 chapters each written by a different author displaying their innate opinion on how Rumi affected the many facets of life he pondered upon
While each of the books 36 chapters are significant for they dwell on Rumi’s teachings among which some noteworthy include “The Religious thought of Mawlana Rumi” by Alessandro Bausani; “Perfect man in the eyes of Rumi and Muhammad Iqbal” by Prof. Dr. Erkan Turkmen; “The Concept of Knowledge in Rumi’s Mathnawi” by Muhammad Este’lami; “Devil in the triangle of Rumi, Goethe and Iqbal” by Dr. Javid Iqbal; “Bridges of Love” by Mursel Derkse and others.
It is important to note that intellects and scholars from the West clearly understand Rumi’s poetic proficiency, idea, philosophies, thoughts, and views on spirituality as described in Mathnawai. Indeed, Rumi carefully studied the concept of love, humanity, and knowledge with profound philosophical and intellectual thought that encompasses the views to bridge the East with the West hence transcending borders, cultures, and civilizations. Consider Rumi as the East’s spokesman on philosophical thought in the West for his works still resonate across the US and Europe. The priceless eternal wisdom shared by Rumi focuses on the reality of life and links the reader’s mind with the Sufi tradition. The book “Mawlana Rumi: Bridge of East and West” also dwells on how the Western authors investigate into Rumi’s analysis the very simplest of life’s details and turning them into symbols of poetic expression to describe life’s mysteries. For instance, Robert Bly, an American poet, and essayist, who wrote a book’s chapter, “The Wild Image in Rumi: Rumi and the Second Road” writes, “When I first met the poems of Rumi, I felt as if I were approaching some old home that I had known very well sometime in the past. I began to recognize the trees along the road, the large house with many porches, the orchard nearby, the animals, sheep, and goats cavorting in the orchard. And the sound of a few Sufis singing on the back porch did not disturb my image of some house remembered from my childhood.” Similarly, Franklin D. Lewis, Associate Professor of Persian Language and Literature, and Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, writes the chapter “Rumi in the Muslim World” and says, “Rumi’s impact on Sufism and Islam in Iran and countries where Persian was formerly spoken, read or written is impossible to measure and difficult to overstate.” Lewis mentions of the views on Rumi by Arthur John Arberry, a British scholar of Arabic, Persian, and Islamic studies, who in “Rumi, Poet and Mystic” write that “Every Sufi after him (Rumi) capable of reading Persian has acknowledged his (Rumi’s) unchallenged leadership.”
The writer is an independent researcher, author and columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]