Who is Shams Tabrizi?

Shams Tabrizi is something else.

He is Jalaluddin Rumi’s mentor and companion, he provided Rumi with wisdom and then Rumi provided us with sweet poetry. 

I came across his story when I read The Forty Rules of Love, a book by Elif Shafak. Centered around a woman going through an unsettling marriage and comes across a manuscript: “thirteenth century poet Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, and his forty rules of life, and love where her world is turned upside down. She then embarks on a journey to meet the author of this work.” I don’t know if this is really how their story goes. Elif Shafak writes about a dream Shams had which was to travel on to find Jalaluddin Rumi, and aid him in a change: “from a mainstream cleric to a committed mystic, poet, advocate of love, and originator of ecstatic dance of the whirling dervishes, daring to break free of all conventional rules.” She goes on to write: 

“In an age of deeply embedded bigotries and clashes, he stood for a universal spirituality, opening his doors to people of all backgrounds. Instead of an outer-oriented-jihad- defined as “the war against infidels” and carried out by many in those days just as in the present – Rumi stood up for an inner-oriented jihad where the aim was to struggle against and ultimately prevail over one’s ego, nafs. Not all people welcomed these ideas, however, just as not all people open their hearts to love. The powerful spiritual bond between Shams and Rumi became the target of rumour, slander, and attack. They were misunderstood, envied, vilified, and ultimately betrayed by those closest to them. Three years after they met, they were tragically separated.”

Excellent read but I differ in the thought that the beliefs which the forty rules talk about are the Sufi’s state or from Sufi teachings as they are derived and inspired from the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, his companions and The Quran. Correctly so, they are Islamic teachings. Many Muslims, just like many other fellow beings, focus on outward appearance of things, were as the spiritual one, the thinker, goes deep behind the meaning of the outward, for the betterment of their self and for mankind. Prophet Muhammad taught us that the greater struggle is the confrontation of the ego. He (pbuh) taught: the greatest jihad is to battle your own soul. To fight the evil within yourself.

No one overburdens himself in his religion but he will be unable to continue in that way. Our religion is the religion of balance, it is the middle way. And he went on repeating three times: moderation, moderation, moderation.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

Shams says: Sufis do not go to extremes. A sufi always remains mild and moderate. Many transformational thoughts in the forty rules of love, it would be nice for you to read and ponder on it if you haven’t yet.

Did you know that in mystic thought forty symbolizes the ascent from one level to a higher one and spiritual awakening? When we mourn we mourn for forty days. When a baby is born it takes forty days for him to get ready to start life on earth. And when we are in love we need to wait for forty days to be sure of our feelings.

The flood of Noah lasted forty days, and while the waters destroyed life, they also washed all impurity away and enabled human beings to make a new, fresh start. In Islamic mysticism there are forty degrees between man and God. Likewise, there are four basic stages of consciousness and ten degrees in each, making forty levels in total. Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days and nights. Muhammad (pbuh) was forty years old when he received the call to become a prophet. Buddha meditated under a linden tree for forty days.

Excerpts: The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak