My young friend, Salman Chishty, from Ajmer (India) wrote this piece for the HT on the eve of Rumi’s birth anniversary.He was quick to share it with me and I am grateful for that. It is a sincere expression of his devotion and also reflects the quest for learning more.
I loved this anecdote —
When Rumi passed away at a sunset of December 17th, 1273 A.D. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Arabs, Persians, Turks and Romans honored him at his funeral. That night was named as Sheb e Uru’s or the night of union with the Divine, ever since the Mevlevi Sufi Order marks this day as a Urs celebrations.
People from every religion joined in at Mevlana’s funeral, Muslim and non-Muslim. When a group of Muslims said to the non-Muslims: What business do you have with this funeral? Mevlana was the leader of our religion. They replied:We realized the truth of Moses, Jesus and other prophets from Mevlana’s plain words and saw in him the actions and personalities of the prophets as we have read in our own Holy Books. Just as how you Muslims recognized him. Just as you loved him, we loved him too, and became slaves for him far more than you did.
All I have to say is: Salman whirls (or rocks in the Sufi style of course)..
