Literary session: Spiritual legacy of Rumi influenced people over centuries, say speakers

PESHAWAR: Speakers at a literary session hailed Jalalad Din Mu?ammad Rumi as the legendary Sufi poet of Persia who preached love and harmony through his unmatched works.

They were addressing the session titled “Rumi’s Message” during the Peshawar Literature Festival, which spanned five days and saw 70 sessions on diverse topics.

Aslam Mir moderated the session on Rumi which was arranged at the Zaitoon Bano Hall of the Institute of Education and Research, University of Peshawar.

Prof Syed Ghayyur Hussain, a Persian language scholar, academician, author, and Prof Dr Yusuf Hussain were on the panel.

They highlighted the life and teachings of Rumi, the 13th-century great Persian poet, theologian, mystic and Islamic scholar who was born on (September 30 1207 and passed away on December 17, 1273.

Having a number of books and publications to his credit, Prof Syed Ghayyur Hussain divided his talk into three parts — the early part of the life of the mystic, and his poetic and prose works, respectively.

The speaker said Rumi was born to native Persian-speaking parents in Wakhsh, a village in present-day Tajikistan.

“Rumi’s father, Bahauddin Walad, was a preacher and jurist. Bahauddin, migrated with his family and some disciples in the wake of the Mongol invasion. Rumi met the known mystic Persian poet, Attar, in the Iranian city of Nishapur, located in Khorasan. Attar became Rumi’s inspiration,” said Prof Syed Ghayyur Hussain, while speaking of the early life of the mystic.

He said the spiritual legacy of Rumi had influenced people for over seven centuries, adding the influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions.

“Rumi is respected by Iranians, Tajiks, Turks and other Central Asian Muslims as well as Muslims of the Indian subcontinent,” said the literatus while explaining his statement, adding his poems had been translated into several languages of the world.

Dwelling on the works of Rumi, the speaker said Masnavi was one of the greatest poems of the Persian language. “His remarkable work is the Ma?nawiye Ma’nawi . The six-volume poem holds an eminent place within the rich tradition of Persian Sufi literature,” he added, pointing out that Rumi’s poetry was divided into various categories — Rubayat (quatrains) and Ghazal (odes) while the prose works had discourses, letters and the seven sermons.

Prof Dr Yusuf Hussain said it was due to the universality of the message that Rumi’s works were read not only in the Persian-speaking world but also had been translated in Turkey, Azerbaijan, South Asia and elsewhere.

He said that Rumi influenced not only Persian literature but also those of Urdu, Pashto and several other languages, adding like other mystic and Sufi poets of Persian literature, Rumi’s poetry speaks of love and harmony and that made it quite relevant to all times.