1207-1273
Sufi Poet And Theologian

Career. Jalal al-Din Rumi was born in Balkh in northwestern Afghanistan and migrated with his father to present-day Turkey around 1217. In 1229 he settled in Konya, where he made his home for the rest of his life. His father, Baha' al-Din, was a religious scholar and a Sufi who wrote an important Sufi work, al-Ma'arif (Ways of Knowledge). After his father's death in 1231, Rumi became a disciple of Burhan al-Din Muhaqqiq, who had been one of his father's associates. By 1241 Rumi had become established as a scholar and Sufi shaykh in his own right. The inspiration for his Sufi poetry about the love of God came about through his meeting with another Sufi, Shams al-Din of Tabriz, whom Rumi regarded as his spiritual mentor. For three years Rumi and Shams were inseparable companions. When Shams fled to Damascus to escape the...