What Did Rumi Eat and Drink?

What did Rumi, an exceptional figure who has influenced not only the Turkish environment but also the whole world from east to west since the 13th century, eat and drink, and how did this wise man eat? 

Abidin Pasha, who became famous with his six-volume commentary on the first volume of Rumi’s Mesnevi, says the following while describing Rumi at the beginning of his work titled Tercüme ve Şerh-i Mesnevî-i Şerîf: “: “Levni, fi’l-asl kırmızıya meyyâl iken, badehu kesret-i riyâzat ve mücahede sebebiyle sarıya meyyâl oldu. Ne mülahham ne de zayıf olup, fakat kesret-i riyâzattan badehu kesb-i nehâfet.” (Abidin Pasha 1324: 12). Accordingly, Mevlana’s body, which was initially red but later turned yellow because he performed asceticism too much, is neither overweight nor thin.

However, because he performed asceticism too much, he later became weak. In Menâkıbü’l-Arifîn, Sultan Veled narrates that his father always said: “My soul died when I was five years old” and that he performed asceticism with complete seriousness both in his youth and in his middle age, and that he was busy praying all night until the morning and that he exaggerated much in asceticism (C.I/ 190). According to what Aflaki conveyed, Mevlana exaggerated not only in asceticism but also in starvation. For this reason, it is learned from Menâkıbü’l-Ârifîn that he became very thin and that this naive person went to the bath one day and when he saw his body in the bath, he felt ashamed of his weak body (C.I/379).

Based on these findings, it can be seen that Rumi’s attitude towards nutrition pushed the limits of even the principle of eating to live. In fact, Mevlana, who reflects and guides philosophy with every word and behavior, also reflected the issue of “food” as an indicator containing meanings in his words on eating and drinking and in his parallel attitudes. He talks about spiritual food that will nourish the soul. According to Rumi, fatty and sweet physical food is pleasant, but of course it turns into something impure when digested. Therefore, it is necessary to nourish the soul, not the body, so that the soul can grow wings and fly:

“Bodily oily, sweet things look clean and pleasant. But after one night, these things become dirt on you/ Eat fatty and sweet things that can be food for the soul, not the body, so that your wings will grow and you can learn to fly” (C.I/307)

In a conversation between him and his son, Sultan Veled, the answer he wanted to give to those who asked about Rumi’s path after him was “Not to eat or drink” (C.I/245).

In many topics in Menâkıbü’l-Arifîn, it is seen that he recommends financial hunger and does not eat for long periods of time due to his asceticism. It is even reported that even when he was a sixyear-old child, he ate food in three or four days, sometimes in seven days (C.I/p. 155).