Photo. Is there a allmighty God? Where is God? In people`s heart? © Travel Explorations (Sanna & Stein).
Rumi was a 13th-century poet, Islamic jurist, philosopher and Sufi mystic. He made a strong influence not only Persian but also Arabic, Urdu, Bengali and Turkish literatures. But the most important: he guided people in life questions.
Rum is now one of the most widely read poets in the United States. Rumi was born on 30th September 1207 in greater Balkh, which is in today`s Afghanistan. At the time this region was a part of the Greater Persian cultural sphere of Khorasan, the easternmost province of historical Persia, and was a part of the Khwarezmian Empire. He died on 17th December 1273 in Konya in today`s Turkey.
In my opinion Rumi provides a better guidance to life than priests are able to. As I consider him, he was very close to mankind, without any religious or racial boundaries. He had a wise head, good heart and respected all people.
He introduces himself, saying:
I am neither Christian nor Jew,
Neither Persian nor Muslim.
I am neither the East nor West,
Neither from land nor from water.
This poem shows also that he was unindependent of religion and not bounded to any particular faith:
I am concealed, secret, sometimes,
Sometimes I appear, and become obvious.
Sometimes I am Muslim,
Sometimes I am in the faith of Moses,
Sometimes I am Christian.
In order to be a model to everyone,
I manifest differently in every time.
I explain my own faith in rational terms. By looking into my own heart, I know what`s right and wrong, and have to take responsibility for my own actions. It`s in the same way I look in people heart who I meet on my way.
When I am travelling around the world I always bear Rumi’s mentioned poem in my mind. That`s my most important baggage. It makes me more open minded and guides me in building new friendship. Before you judge a person, to find out if he or she is good or bad, you have to look into their heart. For me it`s the place I look for God. To say in other words: believing is an act of faith from your heart!
Stein Morten Lund, 15 February 2010
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