The English, Foreign Languages and English as a Second Language Department is pleased to present the Campus Poetry Project to celebrate poets and poetry during National Poetry Month that was established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 and is celebrated every April.
“Your laughter turns the world to paradise”
by Jalal al-Din Rumi
Please click here to read “Your laughter turns the world to paradise” by Jalal al-Din Rumi.
From the Academy of American Poets: Mowlānā Jalāloddin Balkhi (1207-1273), known in Persia as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī and in the West as Rumi, was born in Balkh Province, Afghanistan, a descendent of a long line of Islamic jurists, theologians and mystics, including his father, who was known by followers of Rumi as “Sultan of the Scholars.”
When Rumi was still a young man, his father led the family more than 2,000 miles west to avoid the invasion of Genghis Khan’s armies. They settled in present-day Turkey, where Rumi lived and wrote most of his life. He was recognized as a great spirit and became head of the madrasah or spiritual learning community after his father died.
In 1244, Rumi met Shams Tabriz, who had taken a vow of poverty. Their meeting is considered a central event in Rumi’s life, and Rumi believed his real poetry began when he met Shams. A close friendship lasted until 1248 when Shams disappeared; it is believed that he was either driven away or killed.
Rumi’s mourning for the loss of his friend led to the outpouring of more than 40,000 lyric verses, including odes, eulogies, quatrains and other styles of Eastern-Islamic poetry. The resulting collection, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi or The Works of Shams Tabriz, is considered one of Rumi’s masterpieces and one of the greatest works of Persian literature.
Rumi’s oldest son, Sultan Velad, managed to save 147 of Rumi’s intimate letters, which provide insights about the poet and how he lived. Rumi often involved himself in the lives of his community members, solving disputes and facilitating loans between nobles and students. The letters are described as having lines of poetry scattered throughout.
During the last 12 years of his life, Rumi dictated a single, six-volume poem to his scribe. The resulting masterwork, the Masnavi-ye Ma’navi (Spiritual Verses), consists of 64,000 lines and is considered Rumi’s most personal work of spiritual teaching. Rumi described the Masnavi as “the roots of the roots of the roots of the (Islamic) Religion,” and the text has come to be regarded by some Sufis as the Persian-language Koran. (Portrait courtesy of Shahriar Shahriari.)
The Campus Poetry Project
Throughout April, be on the lookout for poetry postings in the Campus Chronicle, on digital monitors and on lawn signs across our main campus.
“This Is The World I Want To Live In. The Shared World.”
~ Naomi Shihab Nye
National Poetry Month – April 2025
