Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi is a visionary Islamic Persian who lived in the 13th century. His family are known as scholars and spiritual leaders. He was born in a Persian town called Wakhsh which is now part of Tajikistan. He lived his life searching for inner peace, love and purity of the soul which are the contents of almost all of his poems. Although he is an Islam by religion, his writings showed his advocacies in religious pluralism. Rumi did not write any poem suggesting the hierarchy of truths. Rather, his poems are mostly about finding peaceful life by being pure at heart.
Rumi’s writings reflected his life’s experiences from his childhood until his twilight days. Being a representation of his life, his poems also reflected his grief and struggles. The struggles in life he mentioned in his poem, “Moving Water” purifies the soul of a person. Searching for the meaning of life is also one of the themes of his many poems.
After several centuries, his writings are still popular. In fact, America described him as the most popular poet in the country in 2007. His poems are translated in many languages including English, and countries that are Persian-speaking in Central Asia. His poems were not only translated to several languages but are also influential in the literatures of several languages like Urdu, Turkish and Iranian.
Rumi wrote from his pure and peaceful soul. It is perhaps one of the reasons why after several centuries, people still appreciate them. The messages from his poems also cut across religions, races, ethnics and even generations. His poems portrayed the universal search for the meaning of life and to live at peace. Rumi’s poems have the ability to heal hurting and struggling souls. His messages served as beacons of light in the darkest part of the tunnel. He died leaving his soul to his followers of today’s generation and of the future generations that will surely appreciate his works.
In his poem entitled “Moving Water,” Rumi spoke of avoiding the dictates of evil and follow the soul in all life’s activities. It is through working from one’s soul that one finds happiness and peace. He described peace like the feeling of bliss in moving along with the river’s flow. The ebb and flow of the river represents the struggles and victories that a person went through and it gives a person the feeling of fulfilment. These feelings he said are nowhere to be found once a person follow the dictates of others.
Living following the movement of the water for Rumi is finding contentment. Contentment he said is achieved by eradicating “wilfulness.” Wilfulness he added is the presence of selfishness and other worldly needs. Rumi also mentioned that people’s souls are tortured by selfishness. If only people will free their souls from selfishness, they will find a place where calmness exists like clear water in a smoothly flowing river.
One blogger reposted the aforementioned poem of Rumi accompanied with a comment that spoke of how she was able to reconnect with her spirit after reading the poem. The blogger moreover mentioned that she was experiencing a difficulty of moving forward because her vision is blurred by lies and all the negative elements from her past. It was only until she read the “Moving Waters” that she was able to pull herself together as if she was healed. The female blogger is only one among the many people all over the world the Rumi’s soul touched. Indeed, his living soul which has been immortalized by his poems has the power to heal broken souls.
References
Rumi, J. & Barks, C. (1976). “Moving Water.” Poems from Rumi: Seasons of Peace. Retrieved from http://w ww.seasons-of-peace.net/rumi/moving-w.htm
PoemHunter.com. (2014). “Biography of Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi.” PoemHunter.com. Retrieved from http://www.poemhunter.com/mewlana-jalaluddin-rumi/biography/
Brussat, F. & Brussat, M. (2012). “The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems.” Book Review: Spirituality &Practice. Retrieved From http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/books.php?id=3456
Amelia, P. (2013). “Moving Water by Rumi.” Perfectly Amelia. Retrieved from http://eattoliveamelia.wordpress.com/category/moving-water-by-rumi/
