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Primary sourceBookc. 1247

Rumi's Ghazal 163 ("Go, My Friends")

Rumi · c. 1247

A Persian love poem by Rumi, written around 1247 to persuade his companion Shams-e Tabriz to return to Konya.

Rumi wrote this ghazal himself to call his companion Shams-e Tabriz back to Konya, revealing the emotional core of his poetry.

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Illuminated manuscript page with Persian calligraphy at top and bottom and a painted scene: a seated bearded man in black robe and white turban faces a seated young man in orange robe and tall hat, with a half-naked seated man, a standing attendant, and other figures among flowering green grass and trees.
Rumi, Ghazal 163, c. 1247; illustrated in a Persian miniature, Kamal ud-Din Gazurgahi's Majalis al-'Ushshaq, c. 1500s. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.

About this source

What it is

This is a seven-verse Persian ghazal by Jalal al-Din Rumi, beginning 'Beravid, ey harifan' ('Go, my friends'). It is said to have been written around 1247 and sent with Rumi's son Sultan Walad to Damascus, to persuade Rumi's companion Shams-e Tabriz to return to Konya. A famous Persian miniature painted around 1503, some 250 years later, illustrates the story with a scene of Shams playing chess.

Why it matters

The poem shows the intense devotion Rumi felt for Shams-e Tabriz, whose arrival and disappearance transformed Rumi from a religious teacher into one of history's great mystical poets. It remains popular in Persian-speaking countries today and has been set to music by modern singers, showing the long reach of Rumi's lyric voice.

Look closer

  • What feelings does Rumi express toward his 'beloved friend' in these verses?
  • Why might Rumi have sent a poem, rather than just a letter, to persuade Shams to return?
  • What does the later miniature painting add to, or change about, the original poem?

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

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.Book

Primary source

Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi

Rumi · c. 1247 onward

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

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