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Primary sourceBookc. 1247 onward

Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi

Rumi · c. 1247 onward

A vast collection of Rumi's lyric poems, many signed with the name of his beloved teacher Shams-i Tabrizi, written after Shams vanished.

Rumi's grief and devotion after Shams-i Tabrizi's disappearance produced this enormous body of lyric poetry.

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Illuminated manuscript page with Persian calligraphy at top and bottom and a painted scene of seated and standing men in a landscape with trees, flowers and a grassy slope. A bearded man in a black robe and white turban sits facing a young man in an orange robe and ornate hat, while a shirtless man sits nearby and attendants and onlookers stand or sit around them.
Shams-i Tabrizi depicted in a 1500s illustrated manuscript of Rumi's Divan, Madjalis ul-'Usshaq, Bibliothèque nationale de France.

About this source

What it is

The Divan is a collection of lyric poems by Rumi containing more than 40,000 verses, mostly in Persian with some Arabic and Turkish. Most poems are ghazals, and Rumi often signed them with the name of his teacher, Shams-i Tabrizi, instead of his own.

Why it matters

Rumi met Shams-i Tabrizi in Konya and was transformed from a jurist into a poet through their friendship. When Shams disappeared, probably for the final time around 1248, Rumi poured his grief and longing into these poems, later also dedicating some to his friend Salah al-Din Zarkub. The collection shows how deeply personal relationships shaped Rumi's mystical writing.

Look closer

  • Why might Rumi have signed his own poems with someone else's name?
  • What does the manuscript illustration suggest about how later generations imagined Shams and Rumi together?
  • What is missing from the text itself about what really happened to Shams?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Open illuminated manuscript spread showing two pages with gold and blue decorative borders, floral illumination, and panels of gold-tinted Persian script in the center. Ornamental marginal dots and a faded title line appear at the top right.Book

Primary source

Masnavi

Rumi · c. 1258-1273

Exterior view of the Mevlana Mausoleum in Konya: a stone building with a tall turquoise conical-roofed dome, a second grey dome, two slender minarets, and a stone wall with trees and flowering shrubs in front on a sunny day under blue sky.Artifact

Secondary source

Grave of Rumi

soon after 1273

Page of an Arabic-script manuscript with dense handwritten text in black ink, with several passages and marginal notes highlighted or underlined in red. The aged paper is cream-colored with a dark border, and some text runs along the margins.Book

Primary source

Fihi Ma Fihi

Rumi · c. 1260-1273

Exterior of the Mevlana Museum in Konya, Turkey: a stone complex with a tall turquoise conical-roofed dome, a white minaret with a pointed cap, grey domes, and a low wall in a grassy park under a blue sky.Artifact

Secondary source

Mevlâna Museum

Badr al-Din Tabrizi (architect) · built soon after 1273; museum since 1926

A long cream-colored robe laid flat on a patterned red rug, with dark Arabic calligraphy and small grid-like script patterns across the front, sleeves, and body, with a central vertical panel.Photograph

Secondary source

Maulana Rumi - Jubba

Ahmed Nisar

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