Whirling Dervish - Istanbul's Sirkeci Station, waiting room of the fabled Orient Express.by larry&flo

Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi who is also known as Rumi, was a philosopher and mystic of Islam, but not a Muslim of the orthodox type. His doctrine advocates unlimited tolerance, positive reasoning, goodness, charity and awareness through love. To him and to his disciples all religions are more or less truth. Looking with the same eye on Muslim, Jew and Christian alike, his peaceful and tolerant teaching has appealed to men of all sects and creeds.

Rumi was born in Balkh ( part of Afghanistan) and died in Konya. He lived most of his life in, and produced his works under, the Seljuk Empire. Aside from his Persian poetry, he also wrote some verses in Arabic, Greek, and Oghuz Turkish.

Rumi's importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders. Throughout the centuries he has had a significant influence on Persian as well as Urdu and Turkish literatures. His poems are widely read in the Persian speaking countries of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan and have been widely translated into many of the world's languages in various formats.

Rumi's work has been translated into many of the world's languages including Russian, German, Urdu, Turkish, Arabic, French, Italian and Spanish, and is appearing in a growing number of formats including concerts, workshops, readings, dance performances and other artistic creations. The English translations of Rumi's poetry by Coleman Barks have sold more than a half million copies worldwide. Recordings of Rumi poems have made it to Billboard's Top 20 list. A collection of Deepak Chopra's translations of Rumi's love poems has been sung by Hollywood personalities such as Madonna, Goldie Hawn, Philip Glass and Demi Moore; also Shahram Shiva's CD, Rumi: Lovedrunk has been very popular on the Internet's music communities such as MySpace.com. The 13th-century poet of the Seljuk Empire is one of the most widely read poets in the United States.

2007 International Rumi Year

Upon a proposal by Culture and Tourism Ministry of Turkey, the year 2007 was declared as the "International Rumi Year" by UNESCO in March 2006. This is intended for the commemoration of Mevlana's 800th birthday anniversary and will be celebrated all over the world. UNESCO issued a UNESCO Medal in his name in association with the 800th anniversary of his birth in 2007 in the hope that this medal will prove an encouragement to those who are engaged in a deep and scholarly dissemination of his ideas and ideals, which in turn would in fact enhance the diffusion of the ideals of UNESCO.

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