Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī)
Rumi, Jalāl Ad-Din Mohammad Balkhi known as Moulavi, Moulānā, Master Rumi or Rumi, born in September of 1207 in Balkh in the Khorasan region, he is among the most famous Persian poets. His full name was "Mohammad Ibn Mohammad Ibn Hossein Hosseini Khatini Bakri Balkhi" and in the course of his life he was called by the names of "Jalāl Ad-Din", "Master" or "Master Moulana". He is undoubtedly the most eminent Persian poet in the field of mysticism and mystical love poems and one of the four pillars of the Persian language and literature whose name shines not only in Iran but also in the universe. Moulānā Jalāl Ad-Din Balkhi among the Afghans, Moulānā Jalal Ad-Din Rumi among the Turks and Rumi among the Europeans of Western culture, is the same one we know with the name of "Moulānā" and who has a more than deserved role in formation of mystical language in our literature. The meeting with the master Shams was a rebirth for Moulānā which changed his path forever. This event constituted one of the rarest and most valid moments of these two great sages and mystics yearning for the truth that resulted in the isolation of these two great pillars of Sufism and mysticism together. Jalāl Ad-Din who was a mofti (exhibitor of the law), a teacher of religious sciences, leader, jurist, man of letters and preacher, suddenly got rid of all these interests. He was so attracted to Shams that he abandoned teaching, argumentation and preaching, embarked on the path of poetry and became a poet of the mystical firmament. Moulānā's strong personality and sublime thoughts during his life were appreciated not only among Iranians and Muslims, but also among Jews and Christians. Over the course of many centuries he has been the object of attention by Western orientalists and his poems and thoughts have been translated not only into various languages, but for some Western scholars Moulānā has also been a pillar for the formation of a conscience mystical and moral within these communities. The foundation of associations dedicated to the knowledge of Moulānā and the study of Rumi's thought in America and Europe, as well as the organization of seminars and various commemorations towards him, are a testimony of his profound influence on the West and on thought and on ethics of those peoples. Moulānā in the past immediately became famous in the Western world, so much so that the translation of one of his works in America turned out to be the most important and best-selling book of the year. Moulānā was also known in Italy and some of his works have been translated into Italian.
Italian translations from Persian
Gialal ad-Din Rumi, Mystic poems, introduction, translation, critical anthology and notes by Alessandro Bausani, Milan: Rizzoli, 1980.
Jalâl ad-Dîn Rûmî, The Essence of the Real. Fîhi mâ fîhi (There is what there is), translation from Persian, introduction and notes by Sergio Foti, revision by Gianpaolo Fiorentini, Turin, Libreria Editrice Psiche, 1995.
Jalàl àlDìn Rùmì, Mathnawì. The greatest mystical poem of humanity, 6 vols., Translation into Italian by Gabriele Mandel Khàn, vicar general for Italy of the Sufi Brotherhood Jerrahi Halveti, Milan, Bompiani.
Gialal ad-Din Rumi, Mystic Poems, Milan, Fabbri Editori, 1997.[2]
Italian translations from French and English editions
The song of the dervish. Parables of Sufi Wisdom, edited by Leonardo Vittorio Arena, Milan: Mondadori, 1993. Collection of stories from the Masnavi.
Racconti sufi, edited by Massimo Jevolella, translation from the French by Barbara Brevi, Como, RED, 1995.
Love is a foreigner selected poems, translations and proofreading by Kabir Hedmund Helminski, Italian translation by Gianpaolo Fiorentini, Rome, Ubaldini Editore - Casa Editrice Astrolabio 2000
Unesco has named 2007 the world year of Moulānā and in the same period organized in three cities, Tehran, Tabriz and Khoy, a congress to commemorate the eight hundred years that have passed since its birth with the participation of scholars from thirty countries of the world together with a ceremony at the United Nations. Among his most important works we can mention the “Masnavi-ye ma'navi” (long spiritual poem with kissed rhymes). Other works of his are: “Ghazaliāt” or “Divān-e Shams-e Tabrizi” (or Grande Divān), containing beautiful lyrics, composed of five thousand lines in Persian, one thousand in Arabic and less than two hundred in Turkish and Greek. His other work "Fihi ma fihi" ("There is what there is") is a collection of particular sayings of Moulānā which was put together by his disciples, "Majāles-e Sabā '" is the explanation of seven sermons preached on seven occasions, "Makātib" or "Maktubāt", is a collection of 145 letters that Moulānā had written for princes, officials, dignitaries, writers, nobles, children, disciples and followers and for all the other three works in prose which are mostly the explanation of his teachings and arguments. In the official calendar of Iran, September 30 has been inserted as the "day of commemoration of Moulānā". The poet died on Sunday 17 December 1274 in Konya and his mausoleum which is a pilgrimage destination for his followers, is located in Konya