SHAMS TABRIZI
Shams al-Din Mohammad bin Ali bin Malik-e
Dad or Shams
al-Din Tabrizi (meaning "the Sun of Faith from Tabriz") was
a Persian Sufi saint who is best known for his intense spiritual relationship
with Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi.
He is credited for wholly transforming Mawlana Rumi's life and thought after
arriving in Konya in 642/1244.
Hazrat Shams left a single work in prose known as Maqalat (Discourses)
which reveal him to be highly proficient in philosophy, theology and
spirituality. He was an engaging speaker whose words were both simple and
profoundly moving.
Early
Life and Family
Hazrat Shams was born at some point in the 1180s in Tabriz (present-day
Iran). Tabriz was popular among Sufis and many great Sufi saints such as
Hazrat Ahmad Ghazali,
Hazrat Najmuddin Kubra and Abu Najib al-Suhrawardi had
spent some time there. During his early years, it is said that a group of
seventy saints were living in Tabriz.
From a young age, he was gifted with spiritual abilities which his
parents could not comprehend.
His father was said to be a good man of generous nature, although he was
not on the spiritual path and thus Hazrat Shams was unable to reveal his mystic
visions to him. This resulted Hazrat Shams feeling estranged from his father
and others because he could not explain his spiritual sensibilities to those
around him. He says in his Maqalat:
“
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My father didn't understand me at all. I was a stranger in my own
town. My father was a stranger to me and my heart recoiled from him. I
thought he might fall upon me. He'd speak kindly to me, but I thought he'd
beat me and expel me from the house. (Maqalat 740)
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”
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When his father would tell him that he didn't understand his ways,
Hazrat Shams would answer by telling him that they were not "cut of the
same cloth".
For about thirty or forty days just before he reached adolescence, his
progress on the spiritual path made him averse to food, and he would hide food
in his sleeve whenever it was offered to him.
Education
Hazrat Shams was a Shafi'i and he
studied fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) extensively. One of the
five major Shafi'i legal texts he specifically mentions he studied was al-Tanbih
fil fiqh al-Shafi'i, written by Hazrat Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi (d. 1083), one
of the leading Shafi'i jurisprudents of the eleventh century and one of the
first teachers of the famous Baghdad Nizamiya College.
He always supported the scholarly study
of religion and he did not like the pretense of those who prided themselves
solely on the spiritual path:
“
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At first I wouldn't mix with jurists, only with the dervishes. I'd say
that the jurists are ignorant of dervish-hood. Now that I have realized what
dervish-hood is and where they are, I find myself more eager for the company
of jurists than dervishes, because the jurists have struggled to attain
something. These others boast that we are dervishes. But where is the true
dervish? (Maqalat 249)
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”
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He was thus very educated, although he
hid this fact from religious scholars to an extent that his peers were confused
about whether he considered himself to be a faqih (scholar of
the law) or a faqir (Sufi ascetic). He says:
“
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Someone asked my friend about me, "Is he a faqih or
a faqir?"
"Both faqih and faqir," he
replied.
He asked, "Then why do all speak
of his fiqh?"
He answered, "For his poverty is
of such a nature that it cannot be spoken about with that group... he speaks
beyond the boundaries of
knowledge and speaks of mysteries in
a knowledgeable way in the cloak of knowledge." (Maqalat 326)
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”
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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".
Meeting with Mawlana Jalaluddin
Rumi
On November 29 1244, 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:
“
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One day, as he [Shams] was seated at the gate of an inn, Rumi
came by, riding on a mule, in the midst of a crowd of students and disciples
on foot. Shams arose, advanced and took hold of the mule’s bridle, addressing
Rumi in these words, 'Exchanger of the current coins of deep meaning, who
knows the Names of God! Tell me, was Muhammad ﷺ the greater servant of God,
or Bayazid Bistami?'
Rumi answered him,
'Muhammad ﷺ was incomparably the greater – the greatest of all prophets and
saints.'
'Then,' rejoined
Shams, 'how is it that Muhammad ﷺ said, "We have not known Thee, O God,
as Thou ought to be
known," whereas Bayazid said, “Glory unto me! How great is
my glory."?’
On hearing this
question, Rumi fainted. On regaining his senses, he took the questioner to
his home.
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”
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An exchange ensued between the
two men, with Mawlana Rumi finally saying that Hazrat Bayazid’s spiritual
thirst was quenched after one drink, he spoke of being full and so he stopped
seeking. However, the Prophet’s ﷺ thirst was never quenched and he went on
seeking, aspiring to be drawn closer to the Divine. It was for this reason that
he said, 'We have not known Thee as Thou ought to be known.' Hearing this, it
was Hazrat Shams that fainted.
This account is supported by
Hazrat Shams in his own writings who says:
“
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The first thing I spoke about with him was this: How is it that
Abayazid did not need to follow [the example of the Prophet], and did not say
"Glory be to Thee" or "We worship Thee?"
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. (Maqalat
685)
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”
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This account is the most
reliable of the meeting between the two although other perhaps less accurate
accounts are given.
Hazrat Muhiyuddin Abdul Qadir
Ibn Abi al-Wafa al-Qurayshi (d.1373) gives one account of the meeting:
“
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Rumi was sitting in his library with some books and his pupils
gathered around him. Shams came along, greeted them, sat down and gesturing
toward the books, asked: "What are these?"
Rumi replied,
"You wouldn't know." Before Rumi finished speaking, the books and
the library caught on fire.
"What's
this?" cried Rumi. Shams retorted, "You wouldn't know either,"
and got up and left.
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.
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”
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Others such as the great Sufi
Hazrat Abdur Rehman Jami tell a slightly different version of this encounter,
where water is substituted for fire:
“
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Rumi was sitting near a garden pool with a few books when Shams
arrived and asked, "What's this?"
Rumi replied,
"These are called debates, but you needn't bother with them."
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.
"What secret
is this?" he asked. Shams replied, "This is spiritual inclination
and entrancement, what would you know of it?".
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”
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First Meeting
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:
“
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I don't mix much
with anyone. Even with one so great (sadr) that though you sift the
whole world you won't find another like him, sixteen years passed during
which I said only "hello" and he left. (Maqalat 290)
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? (Maqalat 690)
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”
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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:
“
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I was strongly
inclined to you from the beginning, but I saw in the opening of your speech
that at that time you were not ready for this secret. Even if I had told you,
it would not have been destined at that time, and we would never have
attained this present moment together, for at that time you didn't have this
spiritual state. (Maqalat 618-619)
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. (Maqalat
622)
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”
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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.
Resting Place
Due to the fact he disappeared in
mysterious circumstances, it is not known for certain where his resting place
lies. According to Iranian scholar Mohammad-Ali Movahhed, he probably died in
the city of Khoy (modern-day Iran) on his way to Tabriz shortly after leaving
Konya. There is indeed a site in Khoy on the road from Konya to Tabriz, associated
with the name of Shams-e Tabrizi that dates back to at least 1400.
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