Jalal al-Din Rumi: Remembering the Scholar and Poet Behind the Mevlevi Tradition

September 30 marks the anniversary of the birth of Jalal al-Din Rumi, the scholar, jurist and poet whose spiritual legacy is closely associated with the Mevlevi Sufi order. He was born in 1207.

His full name was Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Husayn Baha al-Din al-Balkhi. Known widely as Rumi, he brought together religious scholarship and poetry in a body of work centred on faith, love and the search for spiritual understanding.

Rumi’s association with the Mevlevi tradition remains a defining part of his legacy. The order developed around his teachings, with poetry, music and the practice of whirling becoming distinctive expressions of its spiritual life.

Rumi died in 1273, but his influence has endured far beyond his lifetime. His birth anniversary offers an opportunity to revisit both the religious thinker and the poet whose writings continue to reach readers across languages and cultures.