Rumi, The Slave of the Quran
August 8, 2005
I am the slave of the Quran while I still have life,
I am dust on the path of Muhammad, The Chosen One,
If anyone interprets my words in any other way,
I deplore that person and I deplore his words. — Rumi
It was as if Maulana Rumi knew that his words would be misunderstood and mistranslated, especially by those unfamiliar with Islam. As can be seen from the translation of one of his quatrains shown above, no one should interpret Rumi’s speech and poetry as having meanings that do not conform to the revelation and to the practice of Islam.
Some western scholars have said that Rumi was not Muslim, but was some kind of ‘universal sufi’ who did not belong to any religion. Some, have even gone so far as to say that his poetry reflect homosexual love! They are attempting to force-fit the poetry of Rumi to popular culture. May God guide us all to the truth.
This issue of Islamica, issue #13, attempts to frame Rumi as what he really was — an orthodox Muslim, a Hanafi scholar, a Poet … and a Sufi (It goes without saying, but I feel I need to stress this point, that though not all muslims are sufis, all sufis are muslim.)
Title: ISLAMICA Magazine, Issue 13
You might be interested in these:
- Book Fair People & ISLAMICA
- On Being A Muslim Woman Writer In the West
- What’s Right With Islam Is What’s Right With America
- New Arrivals October 2010
- The Anarchy of Cartoons
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