Jelaluddin Rumi and Sufism

Term Paper # 102550

Anthropology > Middle Eastern
History > Leaders
Literature > Poetry

This paper discuses Jelaluddin Rumi, one of the most well-known of Persian poets, who is largely credited with infusing Sufism with its highly intimate relationship with aesthetic traditions.

2,850 words () | 9 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that classically trained Jelaluddin Rumi, who was born in 1207 in the region that is now part of Afghanistan, lived most of his life in Turkey and the surrounding area. The author points out that Rumi created the Mevlevi Order of Dervishes or commonly called the Whirling Dervishes of Sufism. The paper relates that the Whirling Dervishes are most recognized for their unique dance movements, oblique body posturing, acute mental focus and their musical facility, which is said to combine to bring them closer in union to God. The author states that Rumi's poetry is regarded as the cultural epicenter of all thought, literature, dance and music in the world of Islamic aesthetics. The paper reports that the traditional approach to studying the impact of Rumi's poetry on Sufi music has been to examine the text from a critical theoretic perspective.

From the Paper:

"The natural academic tendency, regardless of academic specialty, is to examine the concepts contained within the lines of verse; to question 'what is the tree of wisdom' and to ask what or how one identifies one's internal "fairy." These are important metaphysical questions that can and should be asked of the text through critical analysis. However, therein rests the academic pitfall that most researchers and even casual observers typically get trapped in: the interpretation of the text which is made even more complex in translation."

Sample of Sources Used:

Abou-Bakr, Omaima. "Abrogation of the Mind in the Poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi." Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, 14(1994): 37-63.
Ali, Syed Mumtaz. "Sama (Mystical Music)." Khwaja Gharib Nawaz Moinuddin Chrishti.
Avery, Kenneth S. Psychology of Early Sufi Sama? Listening and Altered States. New York: RoutledgeCourzon, 2004.
Frishkopf, Michael. "Authorship in Sufi Poetry." Journal of Comparative Poetics, 23, (2003): 78-78.
Gribetz, Arthur. "The Sama Controversy: Sufi vs. Legalist." Studia Islamica, 74(1991): 43-62.