Grant J. Brill
Prof. Thomas C. Goltz
POLS-400 \u2013 Middle East Government
2 November 2008

In 1207 Al-R\u016bm\u012b, was born in northern Afghanistan in the village of Balkh.
Growing up his father became more involved with Sufism and inevitably turned Al-R\u016bm\u012b
to the order. In 1221 with the Mongol invasion of Afghanistan Al-R\u016bm\u012b and his family
fled to and took up permanent residence in Konya, Anatolia1 or \u201cRum\u201d as it was known
where he adopted the name Al-R\u016bm\u012b, \u201cthe Roman.\u201d During this time due to mass
migration, the dispersion of Persian migrant was such that Konya was a capital of Perso-
Islamic culture within the Seljuk Empire.2

In 1242 after extensive studying Al-R\u016bm\u012b attained the position of shaykh in the
Sufi order. After becoming a shaykh, Al-R\u016bm\u012b began attracting and meeting with a
multitude of spiritual advisors in Konya, the most notable of these though was a man
named Shams al-D\u012bn al-Tabr\u012bz\u012b who he met with in 1244.3 Shortly after meeting one-
another Al-R\u016bm\u012b became convinced that it was divine will that he was too meet al-
Tabr\u012bz\u012b. Al-R\u016bm\u012b soon became the pupil to al-Tabr\u012bz\u012b, devoting nearly his entire time to
him. Unfortunately though, Al-R\u016bm\u012b also had disciples who quickly became jealous and
angry over the amount of attention Al-R\u016bm\u012b was giving al-Tabr\u012bz\u012b and revolted, forcing
al-Tabr\u012bz\u012b to flee to Damascus. Although Al-R\u016bm\u012b\u2019s eldest son, Walad, was the Sultan and
found al-Tabr\u012bz\u012b bringing him back to Konya only to have another uprising, forcing al-
Tabr\u012bz\u012b to flee again to Damascus again. Again Sultan Walad, brought al-Tabr\u012bz\u012b back to
his father only to have another fatal uprising in which a number of disciples including
one of Al-R\u016bm\u012b\u2019s sons murdered al-Tabr\u012bz\u012b in secrecy. Keeping the murder a secret,
Sultan Walad lied to his father saying that al-Tabr\u012bz\u012b had gone missing.4

The disappearance of al-Tabr\u012bz\u012b, who he thought was sent from God, sparked a
great deal of spiritual emotion in Al-R\u016bm\u012b\u2019s life which was then conveyed through
writing poetry on his remembrance and faith in God. Al-R\u016bm\u012b produced nearly 25,000
couplets of poetry, known as theMathnaw\u012b, which are considered to be some of the finest
Persian poetry written. Rivaled in his day only by Yunus Emre who was Anatolia\u2019s first
memorable Turkish-language poet. At the base of Al-R\u016bm\u012b\u2019s beliefs and poetry was that
God was both hidden and revealed in everything at the same time, and that poetry is a
\u201cprimary vehicle\u201d for the expression of God.5

With Al-R\u016bm\u012b\u2019s death in 1273, came the emergence of the Mawlaw\u012bya (The
Mevlevi Order in native Turkey) in honor of Mawl\u0101n\u0101 (\u201cour master\u201d) Al-R\u016bm\u012b, founded
by his son Sultan Walad and one of his leading disciples Hasam Chalabi. The order now
commonly known as the \u201cwhirling dervishes\u201d transformed music and dance into the
\u201chighest ritual art.\u201d The ritual is a form ofdhikr, \u201cremembrance\u201d of God, and takes place
with a number of dancers wearing elaborate flowing robes dancing around their shaykh
while spinning at the same time. Symbolism in this particular for of dance includes the
shaykh standing as if the sun or the center of the universe with the dancers revolving
around as if they were planets in galactic revolutions.6

During the Ottoman Empire Al-R\u016bm\u012b\u2019s poetry retained its importance in Persian
literature allowing the Mawlaw\u012bya (Mevlevi) to flourish.7 However, shortly after World
War I, the Sufi dervishes were restricted in Turkey, fearing that such religious
emotionalism associated with the dervishes is not conducive to a secular
society/government, though small groups of Mawlaw\u012bs from Konya in recent years have
been able to tour Europe and America performing their ritual dervishes as a spectacle. On
06 September 2007 in recognition of the 800 anniversary of Al-R\u016bm\u012b\u2019s birthday, mass
Whirling Dervishes were organized in Turkey and Iran,8 showing that there has been a
break from the legal restrictions of practicing whirling dervishes. Today, Al-R\u016bm\u012b is
remembered as one of the greatest Persian and Sufi mystic poets and an inspirational role
model within the Sufi order with his shrine remaining a prominent place of pilgrimage
throughout all of the Sufi orders.