Maulana Rumi paid rich tributes for spiritual legacy

PESHAWAR: Speakers on Thursday paid rich tributes to the 13th-century great Persian sufi poet, scholar and philosopher, Maulana Muhammad Jalaluddin Rumi for his spiritual legacy at a function arranged in the History Department of the University of Peshawar.

Among the speakers were Professor Syed Ghayur Hussain, Aslam Mir, Dr Javed Iqbal, Dr Syed Minhajul Hasan and Director General of the Iranian Culture Centre, Mehran Eskandaryan. The faculty, teachers of the varsity and other literati attended the literary programme which was hosted in collaboration with Cultural Centre of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

There were engrossing and enlightening talks on Maulana Rumi, the classical Persian poet, Islamic scholar, theologian and mystic who was born on September 30, 1207, and passed away on December 17, 1273 AD.

Prof Syed Ghayoor Hussain, a well-known Persian scholar, academician and author from Astarzai area of the Kohat village teach the Persian language at various colleges and universities attracted the audience attention as he touched various aspects of the life and works of Maulana Rumi. The first part of his talk covered the birth, early life and relocation of the great poet and philosopher. The second portion of the session was about the education of the great Muslim philosopher, his interaction with another great mystic Shams Tabrizi.

“The meetings with the Tabrizi completely changed the life of Maulana Rumi. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, he transformed into an ascetic person,” said the speaker who have been teaching Persian language and literature for the last three decades.

He said the spiritual legacy of Maulana Rumi had influenced Persia, Central Asia, the Middle East and South Asia for the past seven centuries. “His poems have been translated into several languages of the world and turned into various formats for the message they have”, added Prof Syed Ghayoor Hussain.

The literatus said great poet-philosopher and our National Poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal was inspired by Maulana Rumi for his thinking and philosophy which is laden with wisdom. Syed Ghayur Hussain extensively quoted from the Maulana Rumi’s work to explain his points which centred the message of the love of the great mystic. He said like other mystic and Sufi poets of Persian literature, Rumi's poetry speaks of a love which infuses the world and the Masnavi have scenes from daily life.

Syed Ghayoor Hussain said Rumi's poetry is divided into various categories: These included rubayat (quatrains) ghazals odes of the Divan, the six books of the Masnavi. The prose works, he added, were in the forms of discourses, letters, and seven sermons. He said Maulana Rumi's best-known work is the Masnawi-e-Manavi. The six-volume poem holds a distinguished place within the rich tradition of Persian Sufi literature, he said and added that it is a poetic collection of anecdotes and stories and everyday tales.