The Life of Rumi

Mevlana Rumi

The Life of Rumi

Rumi was born on September 30, 1207 at Balkh, in the Iranian region of Khorasan,  part of the current territory of Afghanistan.

Rumi’s father was Bahauddin Walad, son of  Husayn Khatibi. He was a respected notable of the city of Balkh ho has obtained the title “Sultan of the Scholars” in his lifetime. The mother of Rumi was Mumina Khatun, daughter of Ruknal-Din, Amir of Balkh. When the Mongols started invading Central Asia and after political events,  Sultan al-Ulama Bahauddin Walad decided to leave Balkh in 1212 or 1213 with his family and his close friends.

Sultan al-Ulama’s first stop was in the city of Nishapur. This is where he encountered the famous mystic poet Attar of Nishapur. Despite his young age, Rumi managed to impress Attar and won his appreciation.

From Nishapur, the migrating caravan set out for Baghdad and then followed the road from Kufa to Mecca. After performing the pilgrimage, the migrating caravan went to Damascus. Afterwards, the group passed through Malatya, Erzincan, Sivas, Kayseri, Niğde and Larende (now called Karaman).  They finally settled in Karaman, in the madrasa (an institute of higher education) built for them by the Sultan of Larende, Amir Musa.

Rumi studied Islamic Jurisprudence [Fiqah] and became the leading Aalim of his times. And then Shams Tabraiz came to Rumi’s life with knowledge that goes beyond books. Rumi turned to Mysticism to became the most renowned Sufi saint, who inspired great Muslim figures  across South Asia, which include Allama Iqbal [Punjab], Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai [Sindh] and Kazi Nazrul Islam [Bengal].