Meeting and Transformation

There was one schoolteacher of Konya in the Kingdom of Rum named Jalal-ud-din Rumi, who was considered to be the greatest theologian in Islam. He had entered the world in 1207 A.D., the son of the Sultan-ul-’Ulama – king of scholars – of Rum, a title which he, by virtue of his own intellectual and scholastic ability, inherited.

When Shamas-i-Tabrez found him, he was giving a class. He saw the Master and wondered in his mind,

What can this strange-looking dervish know of the great myteries we are giving out here?

When Shamas-i-Tabrez asked him what he was doing, Rumi replied,

This is that knowledge of which you know nothing.

When the class departed Shamas-i-Tabrez took all the books and tossed them in a pool. Saints have strange ways of opening the eyes of the blind.

Rumi watched with bewilderment and exclaimed,

Those books which you have so foolishly thrown away contain the answers to the great problems of life!

With a smile, Shamas-i-Tabrez put His hand in the pool and, giving Rumi all his books back as dry as ever, said,

This is that knowledge of which you know nothing.

That day Rumi became the follower of Shamas-i-Tabrez and in due course gave his life to Him. He left many thousands of disciples and lost His reputation. In the eyes of the world He was a lost man but in the company of Shamas-i-Tabrez He gained everything.

I saw Kaaba whirling round the Master’s place. Oh God, what sort of man is He? Is He really a man or a magic enchanter?

Those times were also turbulent times and due to the changing winds of fate Rumi had travelled widely throughout the Middle East.

He had met practically all the great mystics and theologians of that time, including Ibn-Arabi, Farid-ud-din Attar, Sheikh Saadi, Al-Suhrewardi, the illuminate, and others.

His own father was indeed a Sufi theologian of great repute and he had steeped his son’s life in those teachings. With all that, strange to say, He had gained but a little inkling of the high teachings as presented by the Great veiled Saint of Tabrez.

Within a little time He changed from a sober to a God-intoxicated Saint.

It is said that God was so deeply enamoured of the devotion of Rumi that Shamas-i-Tabrez was but a transparent mirror of God for Him. When He saw the Master’s face the secrets of God flowed through.

If I do not see God in the mirror of Your countenance, oh Master, then I am the worst of unbelievers.

He saw what could not be seen by others and heard what was not communicated to anyone by anyone. Madly He fell in Love with Him and lost Himself. All conflict born of logic – high and low – was resolved.

Sultan Walad

Having been elevated to such a state, Rumi wished only for Shamas-i-Tabrez.

He came before the Great Master and said,

Listen to the pleadings of this dervish, oh King. Although my abode is not worthy of You, yet in all sincerity I am Your devoted slave, and whatever I possess now, and whatever I may happen to possess in the future, is and will remain Yours – by the Grace of God.

So for some three months continuously Shamas-i-Tabrez and Jalal-ud-din Rumi were constant companions. Shamas-i-Tabrez out of Love became a hard taskmaster giving out to Rumi the Inner Secrets of Light and Sound and lessons of True Love.

He bade Him keep strict silence and cease all social intercourse, terminating His duties of lecturing to His students, as He Himself was now the student.

In distress His disciples watched the change that came over their preceptor. Deprived of His company they became intensely jealous and violently angry at the strange dervish Who so suddenly transformed their teacher into a madman.

After a year and a half amidst constant protests and threats Shamas-i-Tabrez, despite the pleadings of His disciple, abruptly left Konya and headed for Syria, forbidding Jalal-ud-din to follow Him.

*****

Maulana Rumi wrote about the mourning tones of a flute which is played on a mountain top and which speaks of the separation of the soul from its True Source. The music which penetrates this region is that of a heavenly flute; and it was that music which sounded in the conscience of the Great Maulana Rumi.¹

The Soul’s Journey –
The last Part of the Journey

The Sound Current of flute which you were hearing previously as reported is quite good. This should be listened to with rapt attention. It will grow stronger, draw closer, and ultimately come from above. It will eventually bless you with such a ravishing bliss that your mind will become subdued for good in due course of time with the Grace of the Master.¹

Spiritual Elixir – Part II,
Chapter II: Meditation,
by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974

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Note: 1) These texts are inserts by the editor. They are not an original part of the text by Michael Raysson.