Who is shams

Less than a year later, Shams is found dead at the bottom of a well. It is the tale of love between these two and the mystery of this murder that lies at the heart of our two novels to be compared. The two are both prominent Turkish books, the former a national bestseller and the latter one of the biggest events in Turkish literature in the 20th century and the novel where Pamuk found his own unique voice as a novelist, in which Sufism plays a prominent role. The similarity between them is striking.

Not only does Sufism play a role in both, not only is the relationship between Rumi and Shams-I Tabrizi a central focus for both, but both furthermore use the historical murder of Shams-I Tabrizi to incorporate elements of the mystery novel. Despite this conspicuous resemblance, other than the various mention in the footnotes of critical essays, no one has done a direct comparison of the two novels.

This piece aims to fill that gap. The novel occupies two narratives, one in contemporary times as our protagonist Karen, a claims investigator for an insurance company in London inspects the possibility of arson in a hotel fire in Konya the city of Rumi , and the other as she comes to literally inhabit Shamsi-Tabrizi in a series of visions.

The purpose of this being that as Karen gains in knowledge of Mevlevi Sufism so too does the reader. The Black Book was the book that declared the arrival of Orhan Pamuk on the stage of Turkish literature. The plot, however, is exceedingly simple. He also learns that his uncle Celal, a famous newspaper columnist has disappeared. He comes to believe that finding Celal is the key to finding Ruya and sets out to find her in what is a parody of the detective novels his wife loves.

However, Celal is no regular newspaper columnist, but rather something like what Joyce would have been had he been a journalist with complete freedom who decided to write the story of Dublin in serial form, rather than a novel. The columns, often far more interesting than the main narrative arc, are chock-full of conspiracy theories, Sufi esoterica and contemporary tales of Istanbul.

Perhaps, the novel can be best explained as detective novel that in seeking to solve a metaphysical mystery becomes a sort of postmodern contemporary Masnevi.

The answer is that these two authors, though for very different reasons, take an interest in Sufism because of its role in Turkish national identity. And in this novel, he aims to deconstruct Turkish national identity. Seen in this context, it is understandable how Sufi teachings, in their various strands, are useful in that they allow him to simultaneously deconstruct both the role of Sufism in Turkish national identity and the latter en large.

At times, it felt like the only purpose of the book was to introduce readers to Mevlevi Sufism, to the point where it actually felt that the original had been written in English specifically to instruct foreigners in the ways of Mevlevi Sufism especially considering the foreign protagonist.

The didactic nature of the novel resulted in far too much telling, as opposed to showing, and some conversations felt more like information dumps than conversations actual human beings would have.

Almost all of the sentences were of the exact same length, though I know not if this a fault that belongs to the author or the translator. However, I may be coming off a bit too censorious.

I enjoyed the book and find it to be a good read for beginners to Sufism. It also had moments where it was a page-turner that was hard to put down. The Black Book is, in a word, infuriating. Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi described Hazrat Shams as being unrivaled in his knowledge of alchemy, astronomy, astrology, logic, theology and philosophy, although he kept this fact hidden in the company of religious people.

Hazrat Sultan Walad, Mawlana Jalauddin Rumi's son, describes him as "a man of learning and wisdom and eloquence and composition". During his childhood, Hazrat Shams had a passionate spiritual master, Hazrat Sheikh Abu Bakr Sallebaf Sallebaf lterally means "Wicker-Worker" of Tabriz also known as Pir-e Sallebaf, who would often twirl him around in meditative dance sama. Unlike the customs of most Sufi Tariqas , Hazrat Sallebaf did not bestow the honorary cloak khirqa on his disciples to symbolise initiation into a Sufi order.

After training with Hazrat Sallebaf for some time, he quickly excelled and wanted to gain greater perfection and so went on a journey to seek out saints and holy men abdal wa aqtab. He travelled hidden from the people, constantly striving to guard his miracles and mysteries.

Rather than boarding in Sufi lodges, which would provide free hospitality, Hazrat Shams acted and dressed like merchants and would thus stay in inns, which he would have to pay for.

In every inn that he stayed, he would put a huge lock on his door, although within the room itself there was nothing but a straw mat.

Even though he ate very little and often went without food for several days, he still needed a source of income to cover his expenses during his travels. Therefore, he would teach children how to read the Quran and even developed a method for teaching the whole Quran in a mere three months.

When he did not stay very long in one place, he would earn money by weaving trouser ties. Whilst in Erzincan, he tried to construction work, like he had done in his youth, but due to his simple eating habits and perceived frailty, nobody would hire him.

Hazrat Shams, like many Sufis, thus seemed very opposed to the practice of begging. Hazrat Shams spent much of his life traveling from place to place and listening to lectures of famous teachers, most of whom he found disappointing in one respect or another. Regarding the Sufis he had met during his journey, he says:.

He longed to find that saintly and spiritual companion that he was looking for during his journey. He writes:. I wanted someone of my own type to make into my qibla [the direction one faces in prayer] and turn to, for I had grown tired of myself. Do you understand what I mean by having grown tired of myself? Then, having turned into a qeble, he would understand and comprehend what I am saying. Maqalat On November 29 , Hazrat Shams arrived in Konya.

According to Mevlevi tradition, he was over sixty years old when he arrived in the town. Upon arriving, he stayed at an inn and it was outside the inn, at a little shop or pavilion, where he met Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi. This area was often a meeting point for the notables of the city at the time. Accounts differ as to exactly what happened at this first meeting between the two, but it was a life-changing experience for Mawlana Rumi.

The most frequently repeated account of what happened is related by Ahmed Aflaki in Manaqib al-'Arifin :. It was for this reason that he said, 'We have not known Thee as Thou ought to be known. And Rumi completely understood the full implications of the problem and where it came from and where it was leading to.

It made him ecstatic on account of his purity of spirit, for his spirit was pure and cleansed and it shone within him. I realised the sweetness of this question from his ecstasy, though I had been previously unaware of its sweetness.

This account is the most reliable of the meeting between the two although other perhaps less accurate accounts are given. Rumi got up, leaving his position and family behind, and followed after him, captivated and extemporizing poems, from city to city, but never caught up with him again.

Others such as the great Sufi Hazrat Abdur Rehman Jami tell a slightly different version of this encounter, where water is substituted for fire:.

Rumi was sitting near a garden pool with a few books when Shams arrived and asked, "What's this? Shams touched them and threw them in the water. Rumi got upset at the ruin of these rare and precious books.

Shams reached in the water and retrieved them one by one. Rumi saw that there was no trace of water damage on them.

In his discourses, Hazrat Shams alludes to the fact that he had briefly encountered Mawlana Rumi 16 years prior to their meeting in Konya, perhaps during a lecture or debate:. The outward aspects vary, but the reality is one. I remember about Mawlana from sixteen years ago - he would say that creatures are just like clusters of grapes. The individual numbers are the outward aspect. When you squeeze them in a bowl, are there individual grapes?

He indicates that although he perceived a special quality in Mawlana Rumi at their first encounter, he felt he had not yet reached a level of spiritual maturity which would allow him to receive Hazrat Shams favourably. After waiting for 16 years, he felt it was his mission to release Mawlana Rumi in order to unlock his spiritual greatness. He tells Mawlana:. They have sent me because that precious servant is caught in the company of crude people; it's a pity that they should squander him.

Ahmed Aflaki in Manaqib al-'Arifin mentions that the brief encounter between the two took place in the square of Damascus, whilst Mawlana Rumi was a student there.

Hazrat Shams' relationship with Mawlana was unique in a sense it wasn't the traditional master-disciple kind of relationship. Mawlana was already an accomplished scholar and teacher in his own right, with a following of his own. Hazrat Shams talks about his apparent unwillingness or dilemma to behave in the manner of a shaykh in his writings:. You know I have never acted shaykh-like, unmindful of your station, and said "I'm going here whether you like it or not and if you are mine, you'll come with me.

I need it to be apparent how our life together is going to be. Is it brotherhood and friendship or shaykh-hood and discipleship? I don't like this. Teacher to pupil? I first came to Mawlana with the understanding that I would not be his shaykh. God has not yet brought into being on this earth one who could be Mawlana's shaykh; he would not be a mortal.

But nor am I one to be a disciple. It's no longer in me. Now I come for friendship, relief. It must be such that I do not need to dissimulate nefaq. Most of the prophets have dissimulated. Dissimulation is expressing something contrary to what is in your heart. Despite his reluctance to act in the manner of shaykh, Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi reserved great respect for him, as a student would show a teacher:.

In my presence, as he listens to me, he considers himself - I am ashamed to even say it - like a two-year-old child or like a new convert to Islam who knows nothing about it. Amazing submissiveness! At times Mawlana would read the works of others for guidance and inspiration. However, Hazrat Shams told Mawlana that tasawwuf Sufism must be practised rather than merely being studied - "You want to discover through learning; but it requires going and doing" Maqalat He thus initiated a spiritual transformation in Mawlana Rumi.

He reports Mawlana as saying: "Since I have become acquainted with you these books have become lifeless in my eyes. Seeing your face, by God, is a blessing! Happy the one who finds Mawlana! Who am I? One who found him. Happy am I! By God, I am deficient in knowing Mawlana. There is no hypocrisy or politesse or interpretation in these words; I am deficient in knowing him! Every day I realize something about his state and his deeds which I didn't know yesterday.

Discover Mawlana better, so you do not later grow confused He has two ways of talking sokhan : one public [ nafaq : cautious, dissimulation] and one heartfelt rasti.

As for the public one, the souls of all the saints and their collective spirit long to have found Mowlana and sat with him. And as for the heartfelt one, devoid of hypocrisy nefaq , the spirit of the prophets long for it: "If only we had been in his time and been his companions and heard his words! Don't look to the first, but to this other thing, to which the spirit of the prophets looks with longing and regret.

Hazrat Shams and Maulana Rumi were inseparable and it is said that the two spent days, even months, together in a state of mystical communion. One biographer describes Mawlana's spiritual transformation at the hands of Hazrat Shams:. It was under the direction of Hazrat Shams that Mawlana Rumi participated in sama , the whirling meditation, for the first time. Hazrat Shams explains that for most people, according to Shariah, sama is forbidden as it serves to increase the passion and lust for those individuals.

However, for those seeking Divine Love, it is permissible since it increases their focus on God. By following his example, Mawlana thus made sama his own custom and practice. Hazrat Shams therefore freed Mawlana from conforming to a traditional role as an Islamic scholar.

The sudden and total disappearance of Mawlana aroused resentment among his disciples and students, some of them becoming highly critical of Hazrat Shams, even threatening him. They believed Hazrat Shams had ruined their spiritual circle and prevented them from listening to Mawlana's sermons. In March of he left Konya and went to Syria without warning.

After he left, Mawlana was grief stricken, secluding himself even more rather than engaging with his disciples and students. He was without a doubt furious with them. Realising the error of their ways, they repeatedly repented before Mawlana. Some months later, news arrived that Hazrat Shams had been seen in Damascus and a letter was sent to him with apologising for the behaviour of these disciples. Hazrat Sultan Walad and a search party were sent to Damascus to invite him back and in April , he made his return.

During the return journey, he invited Hazrat Sultan Walad to ride on horseback although he declined, choosing instead to walk alongside him, explaining that as a servant, he could not ride in the presence of such a king.

Hazrat Shams was received back with joyous celebration with sama ceremonies being held for several days, and all those that had shown him resentment tearfully asked for his forgiveness. He reserved special praise for Hazrat Sultan Walad for his selflessness, which greatly pleased Mawlana. As he originally had no intention to return to Konya, he most likely would not have returned if Hazrat Sultan Walad had not himself gone to Damascus in search of him.

After his return, he and Mawlana Rumi returned to their intense discussions. Referring to the disciples, Hazrat Shams narrates that their new found love for him was motivated only by desperation:.

Sadly, Kimia did not live long after the marriage and passed away upon falling ill after a stroll in the garden. In late or early , returning to their jealous ways, enmity from some disciples compelled him to depart again.