Rumi

1207–1273 · Persian (born Balkh, modern Afghanistan; lived in Konya, Turkey) · Mongol Invasions / Seljuk Sultanate

Known for: History's greatest love poet — a Sufi mystic whose ecstatic verses about divine love sell more books in America than any other poet

Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi was a 13th-century Persian Sufi mystic whose poetry is among the most widely read in the world — he's the bestselling poet in America. His Masnavi (spiritual couplets) and Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi explore divine love, mystical union, and the soul's journey to God through some of the most beautiful verse in any language.

His transformative relationship with the wandering dervish Shams-e Tabrizi — whose disappearance plunged Rumi into a creative ecstasy that produced his greatest work — is one of literature's most profound partnerships. He founded the Mevlevi Order (the Whirling Dervishes), whose spinning meditation represents the soul's journey toward truth.

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