Mevlana Jalaluddin al-Rumi
One of the first names that come to mind
when Konya is mentioned is Mevlana. Mevlana is one of the most important
cultural heritages representing Konya. Mevlana is an important Islamic scholar
and thinker for both Konya and Islamic history. Mevlana, whose real name is
Muhammed Celaleddin, started to be mentioned with this name meaning 'our
master' after he started to give lectures in Konya. Mevlana is also known as
Rumi. Rumi literally means Anatolia. He was given this name for living in Konya
for many years and being one of the important cultural heritages of Anatolia.
Mevlana was born on September 30, 1207, in the
Khorasan region of Balkh, located on the borders of Afghanistan. He also
belongs to a noble family. His father is Bahaeddin Veled, known as the Sultan
of Scholars. Due to the conflict of his
father Bahaeddin Veled's thoughts with Fahreddin-i Razi, one of the important
philosophers of the period, Mevlana and his family had to emigrate from
Khorasan. After Khorasan, he visited many cities such as Baghdad, Mecca,
Medina, and Damascus and finally came to Konya.
Although Mevlana is referred to as a
mystic, his thoughts were not limited to a single religion and race and
influenced many communities and was followed by people from all religions. His
works have been translated into many languages and have influenced hundreds of
people over the centuries. His works spread beyond the lands he was born and
grew up in, earning him the title of “the best-known and best-selling poet in
the USA”. Mevlana wrote most of his works in Persian. But besides Persian, he
has also works in Turkish, Arabic and Greek. His most famous works are;
Masnavi, Divan-i Shams-i Tabrizi, Fihi Ma Fihi, Mecalis-i Seb'a and Mektubat.
Mevlana's beliefs and teachings have developed around the idea of tawhid.
Generally, his works are based on his love and devotion to Allah. Mevlana has
seven famous suggestions. Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi stated that "In
generosity and helping others: be like the river", "In compassion and
grace: be like the sun.", "In concealing others’ faults: be like the
night.", "In anger and fury: be like the dead.", "In
modesty and humility: be like the soil." “In tolerance: be like the
ocean.” and “Either you appear as you are, or: be as you appear.”. One of his
best-known works, Masnavi, is a didactic poem written in aruz meter, consisting
of 6 volumes and 25618 couplets, written in Masnavi style, and describing the
understanding of "unity of existence". In this work, Mevlana tried to
explain the Quran more clearly with exemplary stories. One of the most
important features of Masnavi is that the stories do not have an end. Another
of his best known works is Divan. Mevlana dedicated his work Divan to Shams-i
Tabrizi, who had a great influence on the shaping of his thoughts.
Mevlana died on 17 December 1273 in Konya.
After Mevlana died, his son Sultan Veled and his student Hüsameddin Çelebi
founded the Mevlevi order. Mevlevi order is a human-oriented tariqa which is
based on tolerance, sincerity and beauty that developed around Mevlana's
teachings and thoughts. Although Mevlana did not lead any tariqa throughout his
life, he had a great role in laying the foundations of a tariqa. The
foundations of Mevlevi order were laid in Konya. It spread from Konya to
Anatolia and then to other regions.
Mevlana Museum is one of the most
important cultural symbols of Konya. Mevlana Lodge and Mevlana Tomb started to
be exhibited as a museum in 1926. Various artifacts belonging to Mevlana,
Mevlana's sarcophagus, Mevlana's cenotaph cover, Masnavi, April Bowl, musical
instruments, oil lamps, plates and manuscripts are exhibited in the Mevlana
Museum. At the same time, there is a
library of manuscripts belonging to the Ottoman, Seljuk and Karamanoğulları
periods in the museum. Mevlana Cultural
Center organizes Mevlana events at various times of the year. In this center
run by Konya Metropolitan Municipality, there are exhibition halls, semahanes
(ritual halls), research center, library, and performance stages.
