Listen to the Reed: Prologue of Mevlana Rumi’s Masnavi
Mevlana Rumi, like many other Sufis of Islam, was a religious scholar renowned for his knowledge of deen. But it was Shamsudin Tabraiz, who kindled the fire of Sufism in Rumi and diverted his path from bookish knowledge to Tasawuf. Meeting between Rumi and Shams is an interesting event itself!
The result of their spiritual love was Rumi’s Masnavi, couplets that begin with world-renowned verses below:
Listen to the reed, how it laments.
it is telling a story of separations!
Saying, “Ever since I was parted from the reed-bed,
My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears”
Masnavi remains not only one of the most influential books ever written, but remain a best-seller even today.
