A Critical Look at Rumi's Biography in New and Old Resources

Document Type : Research Article

Author

• Amir Soltanmohamadi

The University of Isfahan

10.22067/jls.v50i3.68785

Abstract

Introduction

Rumi's life is full of strange events from his birthday to his death. He has faced a challenging life from the very beginning of his birthday and his childhood days. His father's presence in Vakhsh, his family's journey to Samarkand, and finally his long journey to Konya during his childhood all represent a life of adventures. His presence in Konya and his father’s death brought a new page to his life. He went to Aleppo and Damascus in the pursuit of science. On the days when he was teaching science to his students, Shams Tabrizi, came to Konya, and his entrance made the greatest event in the history of literature. Shams’ presence in Konya was also overcrowded. Shams' absence in Rumi's life brought him to another point of life which lasted long to be restored before the final days of his life. Some aspects of his life between his birth and his life are unobtrusive and vague. Hence, in this paper, we will study the cause of the Bahá'u'llad's migration to Konya, the birthplace of Maulana, the birth of Rumi and the cause of the permanent migration of Shams Tabrizi.

Methodology

In this research, library resources have been used. These resources are divided into two categories of old resources and new resources. Old sources are like Ma'arif, Shams's articles, Sepahsalar's treatise, and Managheib-Alarefin. The new references were books that either directly or indirectly were related to Rumi's life. In these sources, parts of Rumi's life were re-examined. The contradictory and suspicious cases were extracted from the second-generation sources And by criticizing authoritative sources such as Ma'arif, Shams' articles, the works of Rumi and his son were devoted to the vague parts of Rumi's life.
 
 

Discussion

In this section, first, Rumi's father personality and his reason for moving to Konya, second, Rumi’s birthplace, third, Rumi birthday, and finally, how Shams went missing are discussed.
Unlike what was written in ancient sources, Mowlana's father, Baha-valad, was not a great man who could be envied by Fakhr Razi and Sultan Muhammad. He was also incapable of writing and understanding the rules of Arabic (Foruzanfar, 1948). Many of the extraordinary behaviors attributed to Mowlana's father date back to the time after his death and also after Rumi's death. Mulawieh dynasty attributes miracles to him to validate the given reputation to Maulana’s family and his father. However, in Maaref which is Rumi's fathers’ book, miracles like that never exist. People call him Baha while he calls himself an unknown and anonymous man (Bahávalad, 1948). Later, however, Moulavies Sect attributes miracles to him And gave him the title of Sultan El-Alma This historical distortion has caused distortions even in the book of Maaref. One of the reasons why Maulana's father travels to the West is his obscurity. He goes from East to West to get a better position. His trip to the small town of Vakhsh also seems to be another main reason, however, he does not find there as a suitable place due to the presence of the rivals. Another reason for this movement is Living space in the East of Iran. He often misses Sultan Muhammad's teachings as Sultan Muhammad acts contrary to the traditions and beliefs of the Abbasid caliphs (ibid, Vol. 1). Therefore, since the journey of Mowlana's father was much earlier than Mongol invasion,  Mongol’s invasion could not be the major reason of this movement to the West. The pilgrimage of God's house can not be the reason for the journey to the west and then the Konya. Because in the pilgrimage of God, the companionship of women and children was unusual.
Regarding  Maulana’s birthplace, after discovering Maaref, some sources, such as Meyer, said that Maulana’s birth happened in the small town of Vakhsh, not in Balkh (Mayer, 2003,Shimmel, 1999, Lewis, 2006). First of all, it should be said that the presence of Mowlana's father between 600 and 607 AH was not due to the presence of Mowlana and his birth in Vakhsh as his father had already traveled to Vakhsh. According to the text of Maaref, he had formed another family in Vakhsh at the time. In addition, an anecdote which is related to the year 607 HH is fabricated and not consistent with the text of Maaref. Meanwhile, Rumi and his son, who are reliable sources, regard their origins as Balkh, thus, there is no need to conceal the truth in this matter.
Another important issue is Mowlana’s birthday. In some of the old sources, Rumi's birthday, is mentioned sixth Rabi'Alaval, 604 (Aflaki, 1983). In a new source, Rumi’s birth date is 580 AH. (Moawad, 1995). The first date for the birth of Rumi is fake and unrealistic. The absence of this fake birthday in works such as education, Mowlana's works, the works of his son, and even Kanab Sepahsalar increase distaste for this birthdayMentioning the mythical events and other mistakes in the book of Manafeb al-Arifin makes it impossible to trust the date he mentioned. But in the second comment on the birth date of Rumi, the year is also 580 AH That is Gopinarly's comment Gopinarly's reasons are weak and based on several poems that are not valid in literary history research Meanwhile, Golpinari has neglected sources he considers valid, resources like the works of Rumi's sonWith this description, the only thing that can be said about the birthday of Rumi is that he was born in the early Seventh and perhaps in the year 604.
The last point is about the absence of Shams and his tomb. Some people believe that Shams was killed in Konya and his body was thrown into a well and then buried at Ghohartatsh school (Golpinarli, 1984, Shimmel, 1987). The Gopinari's reasons are related to poems that do not have valid research And the source that Golpinari regards as inappropriate for investigating Rumi. Meanwhile, his arguments are in contradiction with the reliable sources. Therefore, it should be said that Shams, as Mowlana's son states and is also mentioned in Shams's articles, has left Konya due to its poor condition. His grave is in Khoy, not Konya.

Conclusion

According to original sources, such as Moulana’s father and his son’s sayings, his works were born in Balkh at the beginning of the sixth century. Mowlana's father was an unknown man who made many trips to find settlement. His last trip to Konya was due to a better position and to avoid the inappropriate atmosphere created by Sultan Muhammad. After his father’s death in Konya and the learning of science, Maulana met Shams who made a fundamental change to his life. Due to the inappropriate conditions, Shams left Konya. With the effort of Rumi, Shams returned to the Konya, but the inappropriate space of the Konya made him leave the Konya again .and never returns to Konya. Therefore, the story of his murder and his burial in Konya is not valid.

Keywords

• Mowlana‘s Birthday and Birthplace –Baha valad- Shams

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