Notably, due to the extemporaneous manner in which Rumi composed his poems, much of Rumi’s poetry has an ecstatic, almost trance-like style that differs from the works of other professional Islamic poets. Though belonging to the long tradition of Sufi poetry, Rumi developed his own unique style. Rumi signed off most of his own ghazals as either Khâmush (Silence) or Shams-i Tabrizi. By convention, poets writing ghazals often adopted poetic personas which they then invoked as noms de plume at the end of their poems, in what are called takhallos. The book destroys the stereotypes that have been set up by the secondary literature, and it gives access to a far more fascinating and vivid personality than we have any right to expect from what hagiographers and scholars have written.Most of the poems in the Divan follow the form of a ghazal, a type of lyric poem often used to express themes of love and friendship as well as more mystical Sufi theological subjects. Shams appears as raucous and sober, outspoken and subtle, harsh and gentle, learned and irreverent, and above all as an embodiment of the living presence of God. For the first time in Western sources we are given access to him without the intermediary of Rumi and the myth-makers. The net result is an exciting and readable book that brings Shams to life. He provides notes and a glossary, which will go a long way toward helping readers decipher the more obscure passages. Chittick has translated about two-thirds of the Discourses into English and arranged them in a manner that clarifies their meaning and context. The book that he published, called Maqalat-i Shams-i Tabrizi, “The Discourses of Shams-i Tabrizi”, provides us with an extraordinary picture of an awe-inspiring personality. Fifteen years ago an Iranian scholar completed the long process of collating and editing the manuscripts. These were never put into final form, but they were preserved and sometimes copied by later generations, ending up in various libraries scattered around Turkey. When Rumi and Shams sat and talked, one or more members of the circle took notes.
It makes available for the first time in any European language first-hand accounts of Shams that have never been studied by Western scholars. Me and Rumi represents a true milestone in the study of this enigmatic figure. Modern scholarship has made little headway in explaining who Shams was or how he was able to play such a decisive role in Rumi’s life, though a good number of theories have been advanced. Over the centuries Shams became a trope of Persian, Turkish, and Urdu literatures. Everyone interested in Rumi’s poetry has been curious about him, and beginning with Rumi’s own son and other hagiographers, a great deal of legend was built up. Very little is known about the historical Shams-indeed, some have even doubted that he was a real person. Rumi immortalized Shams’s name by constantly celebrating him in his poetry as the embodiment of the divine beloved. It was Rumi’s longing for the lost Shams that transformed him into one of the world’s greatest poets. Three years after Shams’s appearance out of nowhere, he abruptly vanished, never to be seen again.
Rumi had been a sober scholar, teaching law and theology to a small circle of students, but the coming of Shams turned him into a devotee of music, dance, and poetry. Practically every collection of his poetry provides a thumbnail biography, highlighting his encounter with Shams-i Tabrizi, the wandering mystic who became Rumi’s beloved companion. Now that Rumi has become one of the best-selling poets in North America, interest in his life and times has increased dramatically.
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