He is revered in his native Tajikistan and Afghanistan, but his influence extends far beyond that. Jalal ud-Din Muhammad Rumi was a poet, philosopher, theologian, teacher and founder of perhaps the world's most influential order of Sufism, the Mevlevi ("Whirling Dervishes"). In the last decade he has also become well-known the West. In the late 1990s his books topped the best-seller lists in the United States of America, mostly due to the whimsical interpretation of his writings by the Tennessee-born poet Coleman Barks. His life and teaching has been the subject of several documentary films, most recently William Dalrymple's Sufi Soul: The Mystic Music of Islam, broadcast in November 2005 on the UK's Channel 4. Rumi is known around the world, but the story of his life begins in Central Asia:
Balkh, Afghanistan
Rumi is sometimes referred to as Jalal ud-Din Muhammad Balkhi, due to his long association with Balkh, in Northern Afghanistan. At the time of Rumi's birth in the early 13th century, Balkh was a great metropolis, capital of Khorasan, the "mother of cities". Although its glory was lost after the Mongol invasions, today Balkh still has the distinction of being the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world.
Balkh was one of the major centers of mysticism and Rumi's father, Baha'uddin, was one of the leading theologians and mystics. He was known as the "Great Master of Balkh" and was respected by Muhammad Khorasan Shah. Vakhsh, Tajikistan

Baha'uddin may have been born in Balkh, but between 1203 and 1211 he lived in a small town called Vakhsh, on the other side of the Oxus, in present-day Tajikistan. Ancient Vakhsh has been identified as the city of Levkand, known today as Qurghon-Teppa, located about 85 km south of Dushanbe astride the river Vakhsh. Vakhsh is mentioned several times in Baha'uddin's book of sermons, for example (Volume II, p.138): (The thought) came to my heart in Vakhsh: Why are there others in Samarkand, Baghdad, Balkh and other great cities, while I am stuck in this corner lacking appearance and adornment [of being recognized as a scholar], and obscure and unknown of being remembered? Rumi was born on 30 September 1207. Baha'uddin named his son Muhammad, but later gave him the additional name Jala/ ud-Din ("Glory of the Faith"). Although Rumi's earliest biographer mentions that he was born in Balkh, the evidence above suggests that his birthplace was not the city of Balkh itself, but rather the town of Vakhsh, which was within Balkh's sphere of influence.
Baha'uddin and Rumi were shortly to leave Vakhsh, but the influence of the Sufi masters can still be felt in Tajikistan today. The Tajiki version of Islam is based upon this spiritual and mystical culture, and Tajik dance is based around circling and whirling.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in the eastern region of Badakhshan. The music of Badakhshan uses heavy rhythm and repetition to produce a sonorous, hypnotic effect. Also in Badakhshan it is possible to visit the house/museum of Sufi Muborak-kadam, a poet, theologian and traveller who died in 1910. Neither have the Tajiks forgotten their most famous son. The poetry of Rumi is widely read and revered in Tajikistan. Samarkand
At about the age of five years old, Rumi emigrated with his father to Samarkand. Rumi's grandmother, who must have been around 75 years old, stayed behind in Vakhsh. Rumi's future wife, Jawhar Khatun, was from Samarkand. We know that Rumi was in Samarkand in 1212, but the family returned to Balkh some time in the nextfour years.
Coming of the Mongols and the Journey to Anatolia
The year before Rumi's birth, in 1206, Ghengis Khan had created the Mongol Empire by uniting several tribes under his rule. Around 1215, the Mongols were on the move, and Baha'uddin decided that the time had come to leave Balkh. He set out westwards with his whole family and a group of disciples. Balkh was destroyed by the Mongols in 1221. Rumi travelled with his father to Nishapur (near Mashhad, Iran), where they encountered the mystic Fahriddin Attar. Attar immediately recognized Rumi's spiritual eminence. He saw the father walking ahead of the son and said, "Here comes a sea followed by an ocean". He gave the boy his Asranoma ("Book of Mysteries"), which is about the entanglement of the soul in the material world. This meeting had a deep impact on Rumi, who was 18 years old atthetime. The family continued on their travels to Baghdad, Mecca and Damascus. None of these places satisfied Baha'uddin's requirements for a new home. Eventually, he settled in Zaranda, south east of Konya, in present-day Turkey. It was in Konya that Jalal ud-Din Muhammad Balkhi became known as Rumi. This is because Anatolia was known as Rum (a form of "Rome"), since it had been part of the Eastern Roman Empire and later the Byzantine Empire. At the age of 25, Rumi becamethe head of a madrassa, where he taught Sharia law of the Hanafi school. He died in Konya on 17 December 1273. His mausoleum, the Ye§il Turbe ("Green Tomb"), is visited by more than two million people every year. Rumi's epitaph reads: When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men. Shams
In 1244, Rumi had a meeting that changed his life. He encountered the dervish Shams Tabrizi and the two became inseparable friends. When Tabrizi mysteriously disappeared (he was probably murdered), Rumi poured out his grief in a great waterfall of Persian verse: 3,500 odes, 2,000 quatrains and the 26,000 couplets of the Masnavi, an epic collection of tales, didactic stories and spiritual anecdotes built around the theme of "the Nightingale who was separated from the Rose". In the eyes of many this is the supreme expression of mystical Islam. This story is well known in Tajikistan and Shams is a common first name. The mostfamous popular music band in Tajikistan is also called Shams. The group members are from Badakhshan and the lead singer, Novobar, is grandson of the founder of the Gurminj Museum of Musical Instruments in Dushanbe. Rumi Today
Rumi is revered by Persian speakers in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran, who see him as one of their most significant classical poets. However, Rumi's importance transcends national and ethnic borders. He has had a significant influence on Turkish literature, and his work has been translated into many of the world's languages including English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Russian. To many westerners, his teachings have become the best introduction to the philosophy and practice of Sufism. Perhaps we should let Rumi have the last word on himself:
What is to be done, О Muslims? For I do not recognize myself.
I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor
Magian, nor Muslim.
I am not of the East, nor of the West,
nor of the land, nor of the sea;
I am not of Nature's mint, nor of the
circling heaven.
I am not of earth, nor of water, nor of
air, nor of fire;
I am not of the empyrean, nor of the
dust, nor of existence, nor of entity.
I am not of India, nor of China, nor of
Bulgaria, norofSaqsin;
I am not of the kingdom oflraqian, nor
of the country ofKhorasan.
I am not of the this world,
nor of the next, nor of
Paradise, nor of Hell;
I am not of Adam, nor of
Eve, nor of Eden and
Rizwan.
My place is the Place less,
my trace is the Trace/ess.
2007   is   the   800th
anniversary of Rumi's birth
in  Tajikistan  and  the
marking of this anniversary
by UNESCO will no doubt
lead to renewed interest in
this mystic and poet for
East and West.
Rumi in Translation
Essential Rumi (1997) and
other books by Coleman
Barks
The Love Poems of Rumi (1998):
Deepak Chopra
The Illustrated Rumi: A Treasury of
Wisdom from the Poet of the Sou/
(2000): Philip Dunn, Manuela Dunn
Mascetti
See more at
www.greatgame.travel/books/rumi
Rumi and Sufi Music on CD
Learned Et Folk Music  (1996):
Davlatmand, a Tajiki artist who plays a
two-stringed bow
/ Want Burning: The Ecstatic World of
Rumi, HafizandLalla (2001): Coleman
Barks
Rumi:  Voice of Longing  (2002):
Coleman Barks
Fleurs d'Exil (2005): Shams, Tajiki
group described as "Pamiri meets
Sting"
Films about Rumi
Rumi: Poet of the Heart (USA, 1998):
Haydn Reiss
Rumi: The Wings of Love (USA,
2001):ShemsFriedlander
Rumi:  Turning Ecstatic  (Canada,
2005): Tina Petrova & Stephen Roloff
Sufi Soul: The Mystic Music of Islam
(UK,  2005):  Simon  Broughton  &
William Dalrymple