“Should I look for spiritual love, or material, or physical?
Don’t ask yourself this question.
Discrimination leads to discrimination.
Love doesn’t need any name, category or definition.
Love is a world itself.
Either you are in, at the center.
Either you are out, yearning”
– Shams Tabrizi
This poem, is not truly by “Shams Tabrizi.”
If you don’t know of Rumi, the famous Persian poet, you should.
In Persian, he’s known by his first name, Mowlana, but by the world audience he’s known as Rumi.
Rumi is well known for his prose about wine and love – and their relations to God and coming closer to God. He is known as the father of Sufism, a branch of Islam more focused on meditation and spirituality rather than the traditional hard drawn lines of the religion.
What’s most intriguing about Rumi, to a gay man like myself, is his devotion to his “friend” and mentor, Shams of Tabriz. Rumi studied spirituality and religion under Shams in what is today Konya, Turkey. It is said that they spent a secluded 40 days together before he fled to Damascus in fear of persecution.
In the time that the teacher and the student had spent together, Rumi had dedicated himself so much to Shams that his next series of works were dedicated to him to the extent that he stated that Shams was the author, Rumi himself just a vessel for the pen. He cared for Shams so much that he sent his son to Damascus to look for him. Sure enough when the two met again “one could not tell who is the lover and who is the beloved.”
Then one day after a conversation with Rumi, Shams is called outside of his residence and is never to be seen again. It is speculated why Shams disappeared but most scholars agree that at least one of Rumi’s students was so jealous of the closeness of Shams and Rumi that he murdered Shams.
That leaves me thinking, and now putting into words what most Muslims would never want spoken…
When two men spend a secluded 40 days together and come out completely dedicated to one another.
Then one of the two has to flee to Damascus.
When you love another man so much that you dedicate your own work to him.
When you love another man so much that upon seeing one another you fall to your feet.
When the man you love is murdered by someone who is jealous of your love.
When you love another man so much that after his disappearance you announce that you and him were one so why seek his body when he souls are one.
How can this just be a mere friendship between two men? Heck this sounds like a chic flick or a soap opera.
Clearly, there was more to Shams and Rumi than what Islamic scholars like to admit, for it would taint Rumi’s image, taint Rumi’s poetry since clearly homosexuality is a sin in Islam and very taboo in Islamic cultures.
The only argument that Islamic scholars have for denying such claims is:
- But Rumi was married! He had a child!
Right…because no gay men in the Middle East are forced into marriage in fear of persecution and discrimination, especially in the 13th century.
2. Rumi was Muslim. Clearly he knew sodomy was a sin.
Just because you are gay does not mean you have anal sex. Also, Rumi was also fond of wine and wrote many poems of being drunk. Clearly that’s another sin in Islam too.
The difference between Rumi and traditional Islamic views of God, is that Rumi focused on the Love of God, whereas most Muslims focus on the Fear of God.
Maybe more Muslims can take a lesson or two from Rumi, and not only his Love for God and God’s Love for him, but also his unscathed love and dedication to Shams.
Citations from:
Barks, Coleman. “the Essential Rumi” Harper Collins: New York 1995.
thepersiancloset 
Beautifully written. Im a desi gay guy, a long admirer of Rumi’s poems and i loved it. 🙂 Please write more about persian poets who have written such poems. There is also a similar tradition among Urdu poets and Sufi poets of the subcontinent.
Islam is not against homosexuality. Loot were killed because they were rapers and not homosexuals. read the Holy Quran and understand it for yourselves.
Islam just isn’t based on the Quran. It’s heavily based on the Hadith which condemns homosexuality. Go and ask your Islamic leaders what they think of Gays.
Islam is based on Quran and the rest is bull. You can’t blame Islam for wrong interpretations of Muslims. It’s just as you blame Jews for what Israel is doing to Muslims.
I have never said anything in regards to Jews and Israel. Please don’t put words in my mouth.
And you will not find many Muslims who will base their faith solely on the Quran. The Hadith is respected and followed as Muhammed’s word by the Muslim world.
On 20 Feb 2015 23:31, “thepersiancloset” wrote: > > thepersiancloset commented: “I have never said anything in regards to Jews and Israel. Please don’t put words in my mouth. And you will not find many Muslims who will base their faith solely on the Quran. The Hadith is respected and followed as Muhammed’s word by the Muslim world.” >
Its a very ‘occult’ story, the un-initiated will see a homosexual relationship, the initiate would see what Shams represents allegorically, the exoteric pious religionist will completely miss both.
Salaam. How do i contact you?
Feel free to contact me at ronningun@gmail.com
Rumi means Christian. The sema was a dance practised by the Christian monks. The direct personal contact with God is an abomination in islam. You are supposed to obey allah blindly like a slave and not to expect any love in return.
I have read in «Histoire générale de Dieu» by Gérald Messadié that Shams was so exquisitely handsome that his sisters had kept him hidden in a harem. And in another book that he had been assassinated by his family after they had learned he had had carnal contacts with Mevlana.
I am fond of the Persian culture. I love the language, the cuisine and my Persian bf.
The best book I have read explaining the reasons Iran has never been the same after the muslim conquest is «L’Iran au-delà de l’islamisme» by Thomas Flichy de la Neuville. I am not sure it has been translated in English. My bf is a French-speaking Persian.
We read and appreciate very much The Persian Closet. Merci.