Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi (Persian: ?????? ???? ????? ???? ????), also known as Mowlana Jalaladdun Rumi[1] but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi, (30 September 1207–17 December 1273), was a 13th-century Persian[2][3] poet, Islamic jurist, and theologian.[4] Al-Rumi is a descriptive name meaning "the Roman" since he lived most of his life in an area called ar-Rum because it was once ruled by the Byzantine Empire.[5]
Rumi was born in Balkh in Greater Khorasan (modern Afghanistan), the hometown of his father's family; some Rumi scholars believe that he was born in Wakhsh.[6] a small town located at the river Wakhsh in what is now Tajikistan. Wakhsh belonged to the larger province of Balkh, and in the year Rumi was born, his father was an appointed scholar there.[6] Both these cities were at the time included in the Greater Persian cultural sphere of Khora?an, the easternmost province of historical Persia,[7] and were part of the Khwarezmian Empire.
His birthplace[8] and native language[9] both indicate a Persian heritage. Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khora?an, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by Baha ud-Din Walad (Rumi's father)[10] or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm,[11] his father decided to migrate westwards. Rumi's family traveled west, first performing the Hajj and eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya (capital of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, now located in Turkey), where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature and profoundly affected the culture of the area.[12]
He lived most of his life under the Sultanate of Rum, where he produced his works[13] and died in 1273 CE. He was buried in Konya and his shrine becam ...