Travels of Rumi – Rumi Series
This post contains the content from the lecture of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri “Travels of Rumi | Rumi Series” uploaded on the youtube channel TQTalks
Imam Jalaluddin Rumi was born in 604 AH in BALKH that city at present is in Afghanistan. He was born in this part of the world Balkh. He was the maternal grandson of king Muhammad Kharzam, Sultan Kharzam Shah.
Travels of Rumi (Migration)
Due to some political reasons his father Ashaykh Baha-Uddin Balkhi along with his family and hundreds of their followers, students, and Mureeds. They had to leave from there, they have to migrate under some political pressures and jealousies and intrigues against them and problems. One thing that has been always common among Ambiya and Auliya is Hijrah. In the whole history of Prophet Hood and sainthood, one more thing has been always common and that is migration traveling, hijrah and the first hijra in this world took place in the life of Sayyiduna Adam A.S. He migrated from Jannah to earth. He was the first immigrant in this world.
Meeting With Shaykh Faridudin Attar
So Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi also migrated from Balkh to Iran to Neshapur, and first meeting with one of the great saints of the time which he got in his childhood when he was about six that was with Shaykh Faridudin Attar, then he came to Baghdad then he came to Damascus to Sham. Here at this childhood young age, he met Sayidana Shaykh Al-Akbar Muhyiddin Ibn Al-Arabi. He was following his father Shaykh Bahauddin Al-Balkhi. When Shaykh Al- Akbar saw both father and son he commented he said that the great ocean is following a small lake and he was a child these are the eyes of Auliya (Saint), he said a great ocean is following a small lake, he meant small lake by his father and his spiritual status and position and by ocean he referred to Imam Jalal-Uddin Rumi. The spiritual station which he was going to achieve and during their SAFAR (Travel) they keep on they are promoting they are being promoted to stage one another they are promoted to the higher stage then promoted to higher state so SAFAR (Travel) is a way of promotion.
Then Maulana Rumi went to Hallab and then to Kunai then he came back to Damascus and Hallab and studies the Uloom (Science) of sharia for seven to ten years in Hallab and Damascus. Then he settled finally in Kunai. you should keep in your mind he was not just a Sufi he was one of the great authorities of Uloom Al-Shariah in his time, great authorities on Fiqh (Islamic Law) great authorities on Ilm (knowledge) on Hadees (Hadith) on rational sciences of Islam. People right from east to west used to come to him to get his verdict. he was a recognized universal authority on Islam.
Resemblance With Sayyiduna Imam Al-Ghazali
Such a great scholar he was his life has a resemblance with the life of Sayyiduna Imam Al-Ghazali, he was also one of the greatest authorities of Islam and he was vice-chancellor of Jamia Al-Nizamia built by Tusi. And finally when these people reach the last border of ILM (knowledge) then they realize that the whole world of this ILM (knowledge) cannot lead you to the ultimate truth, to the absolute reality by ILM (knowledge) I mean Uloom Al-Zahira (Outward Science) they can’t lead you to the ultimate truth to the ultimate reality, so after holding such a big and high position and such a highly recognized seat of knowledge Imam Ghazali left the university of Nizamiyya and went into seclusion for 10 years and there he wrote a book Al-Munqidh Min Al-Dalal and then he came to Ihya Uloom Al-Din, then he got the secrets (Asrar) the mysteries the secrets and he started revealing the secrets of DIN (Religion) and Maharifa (Gnosis).
The same thing happened to Imam Jalal Uddin Rumi so a time came in his life he used to teach the books of Shariah, book of logic, philosophy, Fiqh (Islamic Law), and jurisprudence on Tafsir (Exegesis), Hadees (Hadith) and all Uloom Al-Shariah.
He used to teach the students hundreds and hundreds of students used to study under him and thousands of the Taliban (Students), the seekers of knowledge used to visit him. All of a sudden a change occurred in his life so his priority started changing priorities his liking, the direction of his life, the direction of his thinking started changing.
Imam Shams-Ud-Din Tabriz (RA)
This was on one side and there was a person on another side his name was Imam Shams-Ud-Din Tabriz (RA), he had an ocean of Ishq and Maharifa in his heart an endless ocean of love of Almighty Allah and his gnosis and deep understanding of Allah’s attributes Ishq (Love) and Mahrifa (Gnosis).
He was in the last years of his life. Shams Ud-Din Tabrizi (RA) became upset and asked Almighty Allah whom should I transfer this ocean to which I am having in my heart in which you have created in my heart and in my spirit whom should I transfer this ocean to. He looked around and couldn’t find anybody capable of that ocean. There may be many people claiming but question is, who can digest the whole of the ocean, who can drink it and digest it and doesn’t vomit. Many people do drink but they vomit. There are many people who can’t drink even a drop of the ocean of love an ocean of Maharifa, and there are some who just drink but a bowl or two bowels or three bowels, and there are certain people who drink like canals, and there are some people who drink like seas, and there are some people who drink like oceans.
Shams Tabriz – The Guide of Rumi
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