Ibn Khaldun and Rumi's Mystic Poems

Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldun was born May 27, 1332 AD/732 AH and died on March 19, 1406 AD/808 AH, commonly known as Ibn Khaldun was one of the greatest philosophers of the Middle Ages because of his interest in social theory and history. He was a famous Muslim economist that was influential to many civilizations and his knowledge was used in important works centuries later. Khaldan was ahead of his time which makes him a very influential social theorist. Khaldan dabbled in interests as “prices, wages, taxes and state budgets is sometimes construed as fiscal policy” (p.221) which was applied by tax-cutting politicians such as Ronald Reagan. Khaldan was very much a prophetic influence of the future an much as the present that he can be applied to socio-economic situations.

Ibn Khaldun

Ibn Khaldun grew up in Tunis in 1332 to a leading family in the middle of the 13th century who had relocated from Seville to Tunis. His family was ruled by the Hafsids, a Berber dynasty that emerged as independent rulers. The original Almohad empire had bridged Spain and North Africa which led to the disintegration of the Christian “reconquest” of that territory. Khaldun married into the ruling dynasty and had seven children. He has had a big portion of his life in the realm of power and learned much about how economics and welfare works in civilizations. He learned that education was more important than power. Khaldun “abandoned the way of the sword and service for that of knowledge and (scholarly) retreat” (p. 223). Khaldun focused on the Qur’an, learning Arabic, the Islamic traditions and the Prophets. His family died in the Black Death Plague in Europe when it arrived in Tunis, and his education had suffered because many of his teachers had perished as well. His Iberian scholars had been exiled from the north and more Christian kingdoms expanded towards the south of Europe. Scholar al-Abili was an important figure for his training of authority in rational sciences which were jurisprudence and theology, logic, philosophy, and mathematical arts. 

Statue of Ibn Khaldun in Tunisia

For many years, Khaldun spent his life traveling into the political realm of city-states as a minister, secretary, administrator and an ambassador to rulers such as Tunis, Fez, Bejaia, Tlemcen and Granada which led him to nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes with relations with the Berber tribes. Having been in-prisoned twice and losing court cases, he left North Africa for Pilgrimage to Mecca and never returned to North Africa. Khaldun was a chief judge for the Mamluk state and a professor which soon led to meeting Mamluk sultan al-Faraj and traveled to Damascus where he met Timur in 1401.  

The Muqaddimah: An Introduction
 to History

An important work of his is the “Muqaddimah” or “Introduction (to History)” which has been translated into at least 20 different languages like Bulgarian and Urdu. Many Universities used his works and center their curriculums around his values. Khaldun is known as the general sociological theory of history. What makes Ibn Khaldun so influential is that most of the people offered in the Robinson text have made their name famous by creating more that 10 books, but Khaldun made his career by one book. This book gave Ibn Khaldun the solitude he needed to recount his knowledge of his life. He had reflection on economics and advice on social theory. He created The Introduction in Egypt in his mid- 40’s and made many modifications until it had a life of its own right. The Introduction was the first part of the seven-volume universal History. 

The Introduction was used almost 400 years later by Anoime Issac Silverstre de Sacy (d. 1838) because of the politics with France and North Africa. The French were occupying North Africa by 1830, and extended their control 17 years afterward after having resistance with the Berbers. The French Minister used The Introduction as insight to how the Berbers of North Africa operated. It is because of this European example, that The Introduction is still prominently used in Modern-day Islamic culture. The Introduction has several critical issues: "All records, by their very nature, are liable to error…First, Partisanship towards a creed or opinion… Second, Over-confidence in one's sources… Third, The failure to understand what is intended… Fourth, A mistaken belief in the truth… Fifth, The inability to place an event in its real context. Sixth, The common desire to gain favor of those of high ranks, by praising them, by spreading their fame…Seventh, the most important is the ignorance of the laws governing the transformation of human society.” Understanding that knowledge is an opinion based on perspective until proven scientifically is important to note. Over-confidence in one’s sources is important to understand because sources can be fake or ill-understood. 

Ibn Khaldun learned that through power comes greed, and the surface of political life always changes and that power is invaluable to knowledge. Wisdom is the most important value anyone can have. In my perspective, Ibn Khaldun watched many sultans and rulers want to preserve their power and gain land which was not genuine. “Process and change- the heart of history… historians had neglected his historical information without substance and was conserved with ignorance,” (p. 226) Khaldun knew that wisdom was the heart of all good things in life and wanted to devote his life to science of culture. He knew that the fundamental patterns of humans need food and shelter and that humans are not self-sufficient, they must reap off the land anywhere they thrive.

Ibn Khaldun understood the decline of the Almohad empire, the expansion and contraction of tribal Berber dynasties that turned to ruling of capital city-states. Ibn Khaldan focused his life on social behavior turned into a science. He knew the complex set of variables that condition the human behavior which qualifies as history and a science. 

Rumi and his Works of Mystic Poetry

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there.”

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī was born September 1207 in Vakhsh, a small village in what is now Tajikistan, and lived until December 1273 AD in Konya. Rumi was a 13th century Persian Sunni Muslim poet and is mostly known for his love poems. Rumi grew up with Persian-speaking parents, originally from the Balkh which is known as Afghanistan today. His father, Bahā ud-Dīn Walad was a jurist and taught him many works as well. Rumi became known as of the greatest spiritual masters and poetical intellects. As a Sufi mystic, he still believed that there was only one God (Allah) and Mohammed was the final messenger but saw a hidden meaning from his religious views. He was a theologian and gave must interest in teach others of Islam. Why did Rumi create love poems? Were they mystic poetry? How was the community affected by his mystic poetry? Or was it through Allah’s mysticism? Or through Rumi’s love to make his poetry? His success has stayed international for over 800 years and has sold have sold millions of copies in recent years, making him the most popular poet in the US. 

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī

Rumi’s poems came about when he met Shams of Tabriz when Rumi was 37 years old. At the time, Rumi was a traditional Muslim preacher and scholar just as his father and grandfather were. After the two had met, Rumi had a new way of looking on life became a mystic. Their friendship was unclear, they were lovers, desciples, and sheikhs to each other. Three years into their relationship, it is said that one of Rumi’s jealous sons had murdered Shams because of their love. In Rumi's own words, after meeting Shams he was transformed from a bookish, sober scholar to an impassioned seeker of truth and love. Many have found his spirituality non-traditional and it is inspiring. No one’s spirituality is perfect and it is interesting to understand history as a new perspective. 

It is fascinating that since he became a mystic, Rumi’s poetry comes from ages 37-67 years old. Rum wrote 3,000 loves songs to Shams, God and the prophet. Rumi fell into a deep state of grief and gradually out of that pain outpoured nearly 70,000 verses of poetry. Another work that Rumi accomplished was writing over 2,000 four-line quatrains which are in couplets in a six-volume spiritual book, “The Masnavi”. It is thought that Rumi’s poetry has endured so long because it is relatable to so many communities; love, loss, and daily life. The love Rumi had for Shams, the loss of losing his love, and living life to the fullest is the best inspiration anyone can have. “His highly symbolic and metaphorical poetry deracinated and commodified, Rumi became a symbol of self-actualization” said Chase Robinson in Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives.“ 

One of the many
Rumi's Poems

What is so influential about Rumi is that he had almost every religion attend his funeral. There is something that needs to be said about the strong global movement of trying to dissolve the boundakriesthat religions have create. The exclusiveness is violent and should be loving despite differences in spirituality. For Rumi, religion based on fear was poison for the soul, and his remedy for his spirituality was free of feeling guilt, shame and deceit. Rumi felt that the world is a world free for anyone for Sufi, for Hindu, Judaism, and for Christianity; it is a state of an all evolved humans. 

Rumi’s poems have been transcended over communities through their hearts and emotions and not just intellect. The levels of Rumi’s poetry is deep and there is a lot to decipher into his art. Rumi’s poetry has the thoughts of unity for everyone and that everyone is brother and sister of God. Many would see themselves as a friend or sibling of Rumi, it was a personal process for them to believe in his words and theology. Rumi would speak his heart which made him very successful. His love spoke to all ages and types of people which made him close to everyone throughout the years. Remi’s poems and stories built a cultural path for the Persians, Turks, and Afghans in his country. With his success, this words have been translated into more than 20 different languages. Through Rumi some Middle & Near Eastern people found a new acceptance in the U.S.

Rumi can be the inspiration for many love songs today including heartache, drunkeness, lonliness, and disagreements with lovers. Through Rumi’s love, many can relate to what he was going through. “Love is best when mixed with anguish. In our town, we won't call you a Lover if you escape the pain.” While having anguish and pain is terrible, it is a real honor to feel that way. Many people will never experience the true pain of losing a loved one or someone not feeling the same amount of love as you. If you never experience a true heartache, there is nothing to live for. It is a success in its own because finding a love to die for is important because it is someone you can depend on and live the rest of your live with in happiness. I can relate to Rumi’s heartache and what it feels like through his grief with my own family not just with a lover but with a family member. In Rumi’s “Go Back to Sleep” poem, he shuns anyone that are not fortunate enough to suffer the grief he has through his heartache, he commands the reader to go back to sleep into the darkness of ignorance. Rumi’s heart grew by experiencing a love of his own and then broke his own heart because of the tragedy of his loss. Shams was a wanderer to begin with, and had watched Rumi when he was about 21 years old but felt that the timing was inappropriate and waited. Shams waited for Rumi to get older so he could be a “grand master student” which would be greater than many masters at the time. He chooses Rumi as his "master-student."

Rumi’s mysticism is the idea of his spirituality though love and emotion. God created him to love everyone and he did his best to do just that. Rumi made sure to have Shams' name on his works as a mentor to be remembered alongside his success. Many of Rumi’s family and friends did not want a wild holy man who was severely disliked by almost everyone in town. to remembered and be blemish his reputation. 

Like Rumi, Ibn Khaldun was a scholar and theologist. Both had found interest in bringing people together and understanding one another. Ibn Khaldun had traveled to Demascus as well and learned about how other communities work alongside each other. Both families came from high wealth and responsibility. Rumi’s father was a respected court advisor on jurisprudence. Ibn Khaldun married into the high court in Tunis. Ibn Khadlun was a social theorist in this own right and brought people together through his scholarly teachings.  

Works Cited:

1. Robinson, C. F. (2016). Islamic civilization in thirty lives: the first 1,000 years. California: University of California Press.
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9. Tariq, K. K. (2016, January 13). Rumi, and the Knowledge Not Manifest. Retrieved May 23, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/khwaja-khusro-tariq/rumi-and-the-knowledge-no_b_8972816.html