Silenced but Never Die

In Mevlevi tradition, music is the key to understanding eternity and the sign of having a ‘soul’. When the semah begins, the first movement is not the whirling dervishes coming out and returning, but the meeting of the ney player’s lips with the ney player.

Silence until the afterlife

Music is very important in Mevlevi. It was a pleasant sound in this dome that remained. Music is like a key to understanding eternity. It is considered a sign of having a ‘soul’. When the sema begins, the first movement is not the whirling dervishes coming out and returning, but the meeting of the ney player’s lips with the ney player. The first turn begins with the music starting. Music is like an action order received from eternity, a symbol of God’s command to ‘Kun/Be’. God says ‘Be’ to the human struggling in nothingness and the whirling dervish begins to emerge and spin. He takes off his black robe, which reminds him of absence and night. It begins to become alive with the white dress of existence and the flute/ music/voice. ‘Life’ exists together with sound in Mevleviism. When you intend to enter the cemetery section of Galata Mevlevi Lodge and head towards its door, you will see that there is a statement on the door:

‘Hamuşan, the silent ones/ House of the silent’. In other words, in Mevlevi order, one cannot die, one must remain silent. He will be silent until he speaks again, until the afterlife will be reached, then he will meet and talk forever, and he will have ‘Hayy’. At the end of his life, while Mevlana was lying ill in his bed, he consoled his friends who were waiting for his death with great sadness by saying “The day of my death is Şeb-i Aruz” (wedding/reunion day) and asked them to rejoice rather than be sad. In one of the couplets of Mesnevi, he describes being dead as follows. 

‘Don’t let a mother-of-pearl whose shell is broken give you grief, there is a pearl inside.’

‘Oh lovers, oh lovers! It’s time to emigrate from the world.’ 

‘The sound of the drum of migration comes to my ears from the sky.’

Three Green Domes

There are three green domes in the Islamic world. The first one, which we all know, is the dome of the Masjid anNabawi, which is located above the blessed presence of our Prophet (pbuh). The second and less well-known one is the dome of the tomb of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi in Damascus and the third is the dome of the tomb where Rumi is buried in Konya. The colour green corresponds to Allah’s name ‘Hayy’ (giving life, keeping alive) in Sufism. When we think that we inherited being a human being on earth and the abilities that keep humans spiritually alive from our Prophet (pbuh), that Ibn Arabi was instrumental in the guidance of many people until our century, and that Mevlana is a light that ‘revives’ our century, we think ‘green’. The domes look very meaningful even with their colours.

Mevlevi Traditions

Mevlevis have elegant speeches and speech patterns that are unique to them and come from their upbringing and faith. It is called “glazing the door” instead of closing it, “letting the candle fire rest” instead of putting out. They say “Be agah, saints” to the person to be awakened, the cemetery is called “hamusan”, Mevlevi members are called “ihvan” and the others are called “avam”. They call sending greetings as praying for love. Light is called as çerağ, to die is called as to walk or to migrate. To be buried is called as to be hidden. They say “God gives” instead of saying’no’. They say we instead of I, and unity instead of sleep. Welcoming someone is called giving love. The person who comes receives this love.