Transcript Document

God, Humanity, and Love in the
Poetry of Rūmī
Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.
GSTR 220-B
Western Traditions I
Berea College
Fall 2003
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RISE OF THE SUFI
TRADITION
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Soon after Prophet’s death, some
Muslims become critical of what they
see as worldliness and corruption of
caliphs
Preaching simple living and constant
prayer, and distinguished by their
blue wool (sūf) clothing, Sufis
become famous for their use of
meditation and mystical union with
Allah
Primary value of Sufism: tawakkul
(absolute trust in Allah)
Tawakkul in turn arises from tawhid
(absolute unity/uniqueness of Allah)
Tawakkul is expressed through faqr
(“poverty,” both material and
spiritual)
Faqr (Turkish: dervish) in turn leads
to fanā (“annihilation” of self in the
presence of almighty Allah)
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SUFI THEOLOGY
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As Sufism expands throughout
Muslim world, it encounters
Buddhist and Hindu traditions in
South and Central Asia
Other Muslims criticize Sufis for
assimilating non-Islamic ideas,
leading to systematization and
defense of Sufi doctrine
Sufi teachers (shaikhs) transmit
their spiritual lineages (silsila)
inherited from Muhammad to
communities of disciples (tarīqa)
Basic Sufi theme: love, not fear,
should define relationship between
humanity and Allah
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Sufis practice dhikr
(“remembrance”) of Allah
through chanting, dancing,
fasting, music, and prayer
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (10581111), most famous Sufi
theologian, defines 4 major
points of Sufism:
islām (“surrender, submission” to
God in all aspects of life)
īmān (“faith” in God and his Prophet,
Muhammad)
ihsān (“serving God as if one were
seeing Him” at all times)
ishrāq (“illumination” of the soul,
leading it from dark material realm to
light spiritual realm)
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JALAL AL-DIN RŪMĪ
(1207-1273 CE)
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Most famous Sufi poet
Born in Khorasan (modern
Tajikistan) to family of Muslim
theologians
Mongol invasions displace Seljuk
dynasty (successor to Abbasid
Empire) and many Central Asian
Muslims, including Rūmī,
migrate westward to Seljuk
territories
Settles in Rum (modern Turkey)
and studies Sufism with itinerant
dervish, Shamsuddin of Tabriz
Dies on December 17, 1273 – date
celebrated by followers as “Night
of Union”
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The Islamic World of Rūmī
(c. late 1200s CE)
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The problem with most people is that they do
not look at God with the vision of the lover;
they look with the vision of knowledge… the
vision of philosophy.
The vision of love is something else.
-- Shamsuddin of Tabriz
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THEMES IN RŪMĪ’S POETRY
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Islamicized Neo-Platonism:
God: creator, eternal essence –
unknowable
The world: creation, temporal
manifestation – knowable
Ultimately, however, all is one,
because the world is God’s selfmanifestation
Thus, God and the world are one
The soul remembers its union
with God prior to embodiment
and longs to return to God
Perfect love between humans is
model for soul’s relationship with
God
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Unity of Love: in perfect spiritual
love between two souls,
distinctions of “lover” and
“beloved,” self and other, are
eliminated
Perfect Man: the human being who
attains unity with God and becomes
expression of God’s divine mind
(logos)
For Rūmī, both the Prophet
Muhammad and Shamsuddin of
Tabriz are examples of the Perfect
Man
Poetry is the vehicle through which
the Unity of Love and the Unity of
God can be experienced
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THE INFLUENCE OF RŪMĪ
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For many Sufis, second only to the
Prophet Muhammad in status
Later Muslim thinkers call his work
“the Quran in Persian”
Like most mystics, emphasizes priority
of inner over outer, heart over mind,
experience over reason
Creates bridge between Islamic and
non-Islamic (Buddhist, Hindu,
Christian) forms of mysticism
Helps to reiterate basic message of
Islam: love, peace, and unity through
submission to Allah
His verses become popular as
inspiration for Sufi devotional music
and dance
As of 2000, Rūmī was the best-
selling poet in United States
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