Rumi - Persian Sufi 800 Years Ago

Dzulkifli Abdul Razak is the vice-chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia and he writes today that “I am neither of the East nor of the West; no boundaries exist in my breast,” and this wonderfully open line belongs to the renowned Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi, better known as Rumi, the widely acclaimed poet-cum- scholar Rumi was born on Sept 30, 1207, in Balkh in Central Asia, now part of Afghanistan.
His father, Baha’ al-DinWalad (Bahauddin), a religious scholar and a Sufi (Islamic mystic), had tremendous impact on him.
And Rumi, who later became a force in jurisprudence and religious matters, like his father, was made a university professor. Some even said it was Rumi who transformed the history of Persian literature.
Despite the fact that 800 years have since passed, Rumi’s legacy remains timeless and is still an interesting read today.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) saw it fit to designate this year as the International Year of Rumi with the underlying message of global peace.
Indeed, some of the themes in Rumi’swork focus on tolerance and the love and the remembrance of the divine as a way to achieve peace.
When writing about Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, he transcends the barriers between the East and West.
He constructed a religious-cultural bridge of deep understanding where “no boundaries exist in my breast”.