Konya’s Seb-i Arus Program Concludes with Strong Attendance

This year’s International Commemoration Ceremonies marking the 752nd anniversary of Rumi’s passing, held under the theme “Time for Serenity,” concluded with the Seb-i Arus program.

The program held at the Konya Metropolitan Municipality International Mevlana Cultural Center began with a recitation of the Quran by Ömer Faruk Belviranlı, Director General of Fine Arts at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Speaking at the program, Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay stated that Seb-i Arus is an exceptional night in which separation is welcomed with joy and the truth is realized that death is not an end, but a return to eternity.

Konya Governor İbrahim Akın said that the events held at the Mevlana Cultural Center and various locations across the city as part of the commemoration ceremonies are part of a centuries-old journey of serenity that invites raw hearts to mature and those who have matured to burn with devotion.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy also recalled that Rumi answered the question “What is love?” by saying, “Be me and you will know,” adding that it would not be wrong to say that the pleasure and insight people draw from Rumi’s works will differ from one another.

Following the program, the event continued with a Turkish Sufi music concert by artist Ahmet Özhan, accompanied by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble.

The ceremony, followed by many domestic and international guests, concluded with the “Mevlevi Ritual Ceremony” performed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s Konya Turkish Sufi Music Ensemble.