TheLegacyofRumi(d.

1273)inLaterIslamic
PhilosophyandPoetry

AOneDaySeminarattheInstituteofArab
andIslamicStudies,ExeterUniversity

December3,2011

CONVENORS:
TheRumiInstitute,NearEastUniversity,Nicosia,Cyprus&theRumiStudiesGroup
attheCentreforPersianandIranianStudies,InstituteofArab&IslamicStudies,
UniversityofExeter,U.K.

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WelcomingRemarks
Dr.LeonardLewisohn
SeniorLecturerinPersian
InstituteofArabandIslamicStudies
UniversityofExeter

SeminarOpeningRemarks
Mr.GkalpKmil
FoundingDirector,RumiInstitute
NearEastUniversity,Nicosia,Cyprus

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 SpeakersTitles,AbstractsandBiographies

BoundlessLove:AnkaravisCommentaryonthePreface
totheSecondBookoftheMathnawi

byDr.AlbertoFabioAmbrosio

TheprefaceofthesecondbookofRumismasterpiece,theMathnawi,isaturningpoint
forunderstandingthephilosophyofSufismandespeciallyforacorrectinterpretationof
itsReligionofLove.AccordingtoAnkaravi(d.1631),whoisoneofthemostimportant
Ottoman commentators onRumi anda Mevlevi Sufi master himself, Love (ishq) is
exactly (as his master, Rumi pointed out) a Love without any kind of balance for
measuringitself.Ankaraviscommentaryonthispassagerepresentsagreatsynthesisof
Rumis philosophical thought. My translation of the preface of the second book and
comparison of it with comments by Ankaravi on the first eighteen verses of the
Mathnawi will constitute an introduction to the deep, insightful interpretation of this
seventeenthcenturydiscipleofRumi.

DR.ALBERTO FABIO AMBROSIO studiedTurkishlanguageandcivilizationatMarc

BlochUniversityinStrasbourg,wherehecompletedhisMAin2002inTurkish,the
subjectofhisthesisbeingtheritualofinitiationintotheBektashiSufiOrder.Inthe
sameyearhecompletedasecondMAintheologywithapaperonHinduismand
Sufism(thecaseofBistami).In2007hefinishedhisdoctoralstudiesattheUniversity
of Paris (Sorbonne) on the subject of doctrines and practices of the Whirling
DervishesintheOttomanEmpireduringtheseventeenthcentury.Hispublicationson
RumiandtheWhirlingDervishesinclude: Viedundervichetourneur.Doctrineet
rituelsdusoufismeauxviie sicle,(Paris2010); Lesdervichestourneurs:Doctrine,
histoireetpratiques (2006)withEvePierunekandThierryZarcone. Anordained
Catholicpriest,heiscurrentlypursuinghisresearchonSuficultureandRumisorder
oftheWhirlingDervishesinIstanbulwherehehasbeenresidingsince2003.

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 TheImpactofRumiontheLaterOttomanPoetryandMusic

byKudsiErguner

The Divan and Mathnawi of Mawlana Jalal alDin Rumi had a close and intimate
relationship with the lodges (Mevlevihanes) of the Mevlevi Sufi Order. These
Mevlevihaneswerealsoschoolswherevariousfineartswerepatronisedandpracticed,
especiallytheartsofpoetry,musicandcalligraphy.Infact,mostofthegreatpoetsand
musiciansintheOttomanEmpirewereaffiliatesofoneoranotheroftheMevlevihanesin
Istanbulorothergreatcitiesoftheempire.Itishardlyanexaggerationtostatethatup
untilthedawnofthetwentiethcentury,themainsourceofpoetryandphilosophyinthe
OttomancivilizationwasRumiscompositions,andtheMevlevihanesandtheTariqatof
theMevleviyyawerethemaininstitutionallocuswherethispoetryandphilosophywas
preservedandpropagated.Inthislecture,IwilldemonstratehowthelegacyofRumis
writingsandthoughtwasnurturedinthenumerousMevlevihanesscatteredthroughout
thevastterritoryofOttomanEmpireoverthecourseofseveralcenturies,andhowitthus
survivedthroughthemusic,proseandverseoftheMevlevimasters.

KUDSIERGUNERlivesandworksinParisasamusician,composer,musicologist,
teacher and author. He is one of the foremost Nay masters of our times,
particularlyfamedforhisactivitieshelpingtointroduceOttomanandSufimusic
totheworldwithinternationallyacclaimedprojectsandrecordings.Hehasmade
authoritative contributions to world music, having documented and revived
nearlyforgottenmusicaltraditionsandbroughtthemtotheattentionofthe
Westernpublic,thussecuringthemaplacewithinEuropesculturalinheritance.
ErgunercomesfromafamilyofTurkishmusicians,andhisinvolvementwith
various Sufi brotherhoods, whose music and teachings he studied, left their
decisivemarks onhim.Hereceived histrainingdirectlyfromhisfather,Ulvi
Erguner,whowasthelastgreatmasteroftheNay.KudsiErguneralsostudied
architecture and musicology in Paris, has given concerts and played in major
festivalsthroughouttheworldandhasresearchedthemusicofIndia,Pakistanand
Turkey,foundeddiversemusicensembles,recordednumerousalbums andhas
workedwithsuchwellknownartistsas PeterBrook,CarolynCarlson,Maurice
Bjart, Peter Gabriel, Robert Wilson, Georges Aperghis, Tony Gatliff, Didier
Lockwood,MichelPortal,MarcMinkowski,FazilSay,MehmetUlusoy,Cristoph
Lauer,MichelGodard,RenaudGarciaFons,andmanyothers.

Inthisway,Ergunerhasinitiatedarenaissanceinthestudyandperformanceof

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Ottoman Classical and Sufi music in Turkey. He has devised many original
projects for the International Istanbul Music Festival, among which can be
mentioned: From Sufism to Flamenco, Ghazals, Ferahfeza Whirling
Dervishes Ceremony, Songs from Vienna and Istanbul: SchubertSevki
Bey, Rembetiko from Istanbul, Works of Prince Dimitri Kantemir & Ali
Ufki, Islam Blues, Taj Mahal, La BandaAlla Turka, Ottomania and
FaslOttomancourtmusic.Ergunerisregardedasoneofthemostimportant
pioneersandcontributorstoOttomanSufiandclassicalmusicaswellastothe
worldmusic.Hecurrentlylectureson theOttomanCourtandSufimusicatthe
Roumi Association in Paris, at the Instituto Interculturale di Studi Musicali
ComparatidiFondazioneCiniinVeniceandattheConservatoriumofRotterdam.

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 WilliamHastiesFestivalofSpring:Hegel,Rumi,
andtheCultofOmarKhayyam

byRoderickGrierson

EventhoughtheHastieLecturesandtheHastieClubwereestablishedtopreservehis
legacyattheUniversityofGlasgow,theRev.Prof.WilliamHastieisnowremembered
withgreaterclarityandaffectioninIndiathaninhisnativeScotland.Indeedhewas
recentlydescribedbyanIndianjournalistasoneofthemasterspiritsofthisage.As
principal of the Scottish College in Calcutta, Hastie undoubtedly provoked several
scandals, was sued for libel, declared bankrupt, and imprisoned, but he was also a
formativeinfluenceonthecareerofthefamousVivekenanda,whointroducedVedanta
and Yoga to the West. This was not the only occasion in Hasties career when
conventionalboundariesbetweenEastandWestappearedirrelevant.Whilepreparingfor
ordinationintheChurchofScotland,Hastiehadbecomefascinatedbythewritingsof
Friedrich Hegel, absorbing along with his Idealist philosophy an admiration for the
mysticalpoetryofJalalalDinRumi.HastiesenthusiasmforRumieventuallyledhimto
produce TheFestivalofSpring,avolumeoftranslationspublishedin1903andbased
uponFriedrichRckertsearlierGermanversions.Whiletheversesaregenerallythought
tobecharming, themostintriguing section ofthebookisanessayinwhichHastie
criticizes thecontemporary fashionforOmarKhayyam bycomparing his despairing
pessimismwiththespiritualvisionofRumi.AlthoughHastiesessaymayhavebeen
ignoredinrecentdecades,thecontroversythatitprovokedallowsustoexamineWestern
enthusiasmforPersianpoetryduringthenineteenthcentury,includingtheinventionof
EuropeanversionsofOmarorRumithatsurvivealongsidethePersianoriginals,aswell
asthefaultlinesthatemergedbetweenconventionalChristianbeliefandanumberof
more exotic or even imaginary alternatives, and the ways in which the established
Churchesrespondedtothesechallenges.

RODERICK GRIERSON is currently Menteezade Research Fellow at the Rumi Institute,

Near East University. He was trained in Syriac, Armenian, and Greek at the Oriental
Institute, University of Oxford, and after completing the organization of African
Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia, which opened at The Walters Art Gallery in

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Baltimore in 1993 with a catalogue of the same title published by Yale University
Press, he became a fellow of the DuBois Institute for African and African American
Research at Harvard University. He has recently edited and written an introduction to
Deviant Histories: New Perspectives on Turkish Sufism, a translation of Ahmed Yaar
Ocaks Trk Sufline Baklar, which has been published by New East University
Press. He has also edited and prepared an introduction and bibliography for a revised
version of The City of the Heart, the first translation into English of the complete text
of Yunus Emres Divan according to the edition published in 1961 by Abdlbki
Glpnarl, and written a new introduction for a second printing of The Scholar and
the Saint: Studies in Commemoration of Abul-Rayhan al-Biruni and Jalal al-Din al-
Rumi. In 2009, he delivered the Sha Faiz Memorial Lectures, which will be
published as The Road to the City of the Heart. Forthcoming publications in 2010 will
also include Mehmed Fuad Kprl and the Shamanist Legacy in Turkish Sufism and
the exhibition catalogue See What Love Has Done: 175 Years of Printed Books on
Yunus Emre.

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 Sultan Walads (623/1226712/1312) Role
in the Foundation of the Mawlawiyya

byProf.HlyaKk

SultanWalads (623/1226712/1312)nameisassociated withhis establishing the

earlyhistoryoftheMawlawiSufiOrder,byconveyingthewayandteachingsofhis
fatherMawlanaRumisandhisfathersteachersinhisIbtidanama,andhisotherefforts
inlayingdownthefoundationsofwhatlaterbecameknownastheMawlawiyya.Healso
composedthreeMathnawipoems,aDiwanandotherbookscommentingonhisfathers
words.Itcanbesaidthattoalargedegreeheturnedtheecstatic,poeticSufismofhis
fatherintoasoberanddidactictradition.Allthesewerefairlyenoughtoregardhimas
thesecondPir(PatronSaint)oftheMawlawiSufitradition.
TheclaimthattherearetwotendenciesintheMawlawiOrder:oneledbyShamsof
Tabriz,whichtendedtowardsAlawiantinomianismorunorthodoxy,andtheotherledby
SultanWalad,whichtendedtowardsasceticismandorthodoxy,isnotcorrectaccording
to theauthor. Inheropinion, while there werecertain schisms inthe Mawlawi Sufi
tradition,SultanWaladspathcannotbecalledsimplyawayofasceticism.Rather,like
Shams,SultanWaladcanbedeemedarepresentativeofecstaticSufism,althoughhewas
muchmoreexuberantthanShams.Outwardly,SultanWaladappearedasamoresober
andreasonableSufi,shunningextrememanifestationsoflove,whilestrugglingtounite
exotericismandesotericismbyavoidingextremistmysticalideas.

HLYAKKisAssociateProfessoroftheHistoryofSufismatSelukUniversity,
Konya.SheistheauthorofTheRolesoftheBektashisinTurkeysNationalStruggle
(Leiden:Brill,2002), KurtuluSavandaBektailer (stanbul2003), SultanVeled
VeMaarifi.KitbulHikemiyyeadlMarifTercmeveerhi(Konya2005);Sultan
Veledventihanamesi,(stanbul2010),TasavvufaGiri(stanbul2010)andTasavvuf
TarihineGiri(stanbul2010).HercurrentstudyfocusesonthehistoryofSufismin
classicaltimesandtoday.

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 Simatalmuqinin:IsmailAnkaravisCommentary
onthePrefacetotheMathnawi

byProf.BilalKupnar

SimatalMuqininisarareArabicmanuscriptwrittenbytherenownedMawlawithinker,
IsmailRusukhiAnkaravi(d.1041/1631),asacommentaryonthePreface(Dibaja)tothe
FirstBookofMawlanaRumisMathnawi.Aswelearnfromhisintroductorystatements,
Ankaraviappearstohaveproposedatleasttwospecificobjectivesforthecompositionof
thisshortbutoriginalwork,whichisstillpreservedinmanuscriptformandcurrently
beingeditedandtranslatedintoEnglishbymyself.Oneofhisobjectivesinwritingthe
Simat is to explain or elucidate certain difficult phrases employed in the Preface,
especiallythephraseswhich,asheasserts,hadbeeneitherinadvertentlyneglectedor
inaccuratelyinterpretedbycommentatorspriortohim.Hissecondaim,inparalleltothe
first one, is to disclose hidden mysteries, symbolic meanings and metaphorical
indications of pivotal notions that are articulated by Rumi in the Preface. Another
objectiveonemaygleanfromtheopeninglinesofthe Simat,althoughithasnotbeen
statedexplicitlybyAnkaravi,isthatheseekstoprovideareadilyaccessiblemanualor
companionforthedisciplesoftheMawlawispiritualpathinparticularandthereadersof
theMathnawiingeneral,sothattheycanbetterrecognizethevalueofthelatterworkand
benefitfromit,accordingly.Inourlecture,weshallattempttoestablishtheplaceand
importanceofthe Simat intheoverallcontextofAnkaraviswritingsandthengivean
overviewofitscontent,whilehighlightingitsimportantcharacteristics.

BILAL KUPINAR receivedhisB.A.intheologyfromSelukUniversity,Konya,his

M.A.inphilosophy,logicandhistoryofsciencefromtheMiddleEastTechnical
University, Ankara, his first Ph.D. in the history of philosophy from Seluk
University,andhissecondPh.D.inIslamicphilosophyandmysticismfromMcGill
University. He specializes in medieval Islamic philosophy and mysticism. His
research investigates into various philosophical and mystical traditions, especially
withinthecontextoftheOttomanintellectualhistory.Hetaughtatseveralacademic
institutions, including International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization
(ISTAC),KualaLumpur,andConcordiaandMcGillUniversities,Montreal.Heisthe
authorofseveralbooksincluding: IsmailAnkaraviontheIlluminativePhilosophy
(1996)and IbniSinadaBilgiTeorisi(IbnSinasTheoryofKnowledge) 2nded.
(2001). And his third book on Ankaravis Commentary on the Light Verse is

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forthcoming. Currently, he is professor of history of Islamic philosophy in the
CollegeofArts,Science&Education,AhliaUniversity,Bahrain.

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 TheInfluenceofMawlanaRumionMullaSadraandFaydiKashani

byProf.ShahramPazouki

TheseventeenthcenturyPersianthinkersMullaSadra(d.1050/1640)andMuhsinFaydi
Kashani (d. 1091/1680) are counted as being, respectively, the greatest mystical
philosopherandtheologianoftheentireShiiteIslamicworld.Whileeachofthemhad
theirowndistinctunderstandingofSufism,theologyandphilosophy,theworksofboth
wascharacterizedbyanadmirationandabsorptioninthepoetryandmysticismofJalal
alDinRumi.RumiisthemostfrequentlyquotedPersianpoetinMullaSadrasprose
writings.FaydiKashaninotonlywroteanentirethematicstudyandsynopsisofRumis
Mathnawi,butalsocomposedmanyghazalsmodelledonpoemsintheDivaniShamsi
Tabrizi, whilehisPersiantreatisesfeaturemorecitationsfromRumisversethanany
otherpoet.MylecturewilldiscussandexplainwhyRumiwassoinfluentialonthese
thinkers in particular and on the seventeenthcentury philosophers of the School of
Isfahaningeneral.

SHAHRAM PAZOUKI isAssistant ProfessorattheIranianAcademyofPhilosophy,

Tehran,andEditorinChiefof MawlanaPajuhi (RumiStudies),aquarterlyjournal
onRumipublishedinPersian.

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 NaqshbandiAdmirersofRumiintheLateTimuridPeriod

byDr.LloydRidgeon

ThislecturefocusesontheworksofthreeNaqshbandiSufis(YaqubCharkhi,Abdal
Rahman Jami and Husayn Waiz Kashifi), which analysed, praised and served to
propagateRumis Mathnawi.Eachofthecommentariesisuniqueinthattheircontents
functionedtopromotedifferentkindsofSufism.Oneofthemostinterestingfeaturesof
Charkhisofferingisthatthroughhisinterpretationofthe Mathnawi headvancedand
propagatedthedoctrinesoftheNaqshbandiOrderwithfrequentreferencestoboththe
sayings of Baha alDin Naqshband and certain Naqshbandi rituals (especially the
visualisationoftheshaykhintheheart).JamiscommentaryontheMathnawiislimited
toanexplanationofitsfirsttwolines.However,heincludedinitanumberofhisown
highly exquisite mathnawis, in which he considered the reed (nay) from different
perspectives.HealsoattemptedtosynthesizeRumisopeningoftheMathnawiwiththe
ontologyofthe wujudi school,associated withIbnArabiandhisfollowers.Finally,
Husayn Waiz Kashifi is represented with an investigation into his anthology of the
Mathnawi.Anthologiesarefarfromsimpleorinnocentworks,becausetheirstructure
highlights the importance orotherwiseofthe themes, terms,expressions,people and
places contained in the original work. Kashifis offering reflects his reputation as a
soberSufiwhoattemptedtogivestructureandclaritytotextsthatsometimesdidnot
revealtheirsecretssoeasily.ThesethreeSufisthen,offeredverydifferentwaysinwhich
subsequentgenerationsofSufiswerehelpedintheirappreciationoftheMathnawi.

LLOYD RIDGEON is Reader in Islamic Studies at Glasgow University, where he

teachescoursesonSufismandmodernIranaswellasgeneralIslamicStudies.Heis
authoroftheonlymajorstudyinEnglishofthegreat13 thcenturyPersianSufithinker
AzizNasafi (1998)andeditorof IslamicInterpretationsofChristianity (2001).His
recentpublicationsincludeSufiCastigator:AhmadKasraviandtheIranianMystical
Tradition(2006),aswellasafourvolumecollectionofarticlesbythecontemporary
scholarsofSufismentitled Sufism:CriticalConcepts (2008).Hehasalsowrittena
studyofspiritual chivalry inthePersianSufitradition: Morals andMysticism in
PersianSufism:AHistoryofSufiFutuwwatinIran(2010).

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