Greatest of all Love Affairs

The most iconic love affair that happened between Jelaluddin Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. Rumi was a poet, a muslim scholar and a sufi mystic. At age 37, he was a popular teacher in Konya, Turkey.

Little did he know that the overflowing love inside him will be shaken and stirred by his special person - Shams who was much older than him.

Rumi and Shams

Rumi was Shams' mission. He was the companion that Shams longed to meet; the companion who he can share his wisdom and knowledge with. Whereas,  Rumi was delighted in finding light in Shams as a his spiritual friend and growth companion. 

Rumi saw his whole world together when he spent time with Shams and both of them got fond of each other by just spending time with each other. Because Shams was much older than him, they found the foundation of connection in a mentor mentee, teacher-disciple relationship. 

The fondness was based on pure love and joy, the time became irrelevant when Rumi was with Shams.

The love between Shams and Rumi was beyond gender, beyond age ,beyond physicalities and beyond any definition. In my eyes, it was the spiritual love that can be only felt in present moment. However, such intense things are always meant for bigger things.

Rumi was passionately involved while Shams was purposefully involved in the relationship. Shams brought Rumi's awakening achieving the desired outcome of their Soul's contract. 

Shams starts Rumi's journey 

In one story, during an incident Rumi suggested that the knowledge contained in the books could not be understood by someone who was as unlearned as Shams. To which, he threw Rumi's books into the pool that he was reading to seek knowledge from that ultimately helped Rumi understand that the knowledge he was really seeking was not found in those books. Shams prepared Rumi that, time has come to gain the cognizance of God. After this, the company of Shams put Rumi on a journey to grasp the mysteries of earth and heavens through spiritual illumination.

Shams left Rumi 

It has been mentioned in some biographies, that Shams of Tabrizi mysteriously disappeared. Some say that Shams was killed by close followers of Rumi who were jealous of the close relationship between Rumi and Shams. We can only imagine what happened to Rumi after that. Since Shams left Rumi in a mystery...

Derwish 

His disappearance left Rumi grieving and heartbroken. The anguish, pain and longing was so much for him that caused him be whirl around a pole in his front yard in misery. This seems to have begun Whirling Dervish. They wrote: 'Separation made the sheykh lose his wits; he became drunk, not with wine, but with light, and in this state he began to dance. '

The movements of the dervishes represent Rumi's mystical journey of his soul towards union with God and find solace. He whirled and poetry started to flow.

Poetry

Because of the loneliness, Rumi turned to poetry. He wrote poems of love, God, truth, and life. He became a poet and found Derwish as a way to glorify God and seek spiritual light. 

In longing, it was said

Come to the orchards in spring

there is light and wine

and sweethearts in a pomegranate flower

If you do not come, these do not matter

If you do come, these do not matter.

Death 

Rumi's death is considered as a "Night of Union" as he considered death as the birth of the soul and his life in another world which the real one is. 

I know that, Rumi reunited with his beloved, Shams in the new realm...against the matrix which is beyond all the rights and wrongs. 

Rumi said...

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
There is a field. I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
The world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
Doesn't make any sense.