Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi

MEVLANA

The great mystic and poet Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi was born in Balkh, Afghanistan, on September 30, 1207 A.D. His father Bahaeddin Veled decided to leave Balkh because of the Mongol Invasions. Upon the invitation of the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubat, Bahaeddin Veled settled in Konya in Central Anatolia in 1220. Meanwhile, Mevlana married Gevher Hatun in Karaman and his son, Sultan Veled, was born in 1226 in the same town.     

Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi's masterpiece, his six volume Mesnevi, consisting of 25,700 couplets, is regarded as the most outstanding work of Turkish-Persian-Islamic mysticism. It is not clear when Mevlana started writing the Mesnevi, though it is known that he started on the second volume of his magnum opus in 1264.

Mosque of Mevlana-Konya

Following a short bout with an illness Mevlana died in Konya on December 17, 1273, whereupon Husameddin Celebi, a student and a disciple of his, stepped into his place on the insistence of Mevlana's son Sultan Veled. Upon Celebi’s death in 1284, Sultan Veled became the master and made important contributions to the emergence of the sect which is called Mesnevi (Mevlevi) after Mevlana's name.

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