Shams Tabrizi


Joy is like pure clear water; wherever it flows, wondrous blossoms grow. Sorrow is like a black flood; wherever it flows it wilts the blossoms.

These sublime words are Shams Tabrizi’s. The spiritual teacher of Mawlana Jalal ad Din Muhammad Balkhi, whom the world knows as Rumi. Legend has it that for forty days Tabrizi taught Rumi in complete seclusion – the knowledge that the master passed on to his disiciple is evident on reading Rumi’s poems.

Tabrizi entered Rumi’s life unexpectedly and disappeared from his life unexpectedly. Rumi was already a scholar when he met Tabrizi. But when they entered into a theological debate, Rumi was so awestruck that he almost fainted with Tabrizi’s arguments. In one of his poems, Rumi pays tribute to Tabrizi in the following words:

Why should I seek? I am the same as he.

His essence speaks through me.

I have been looking for myself.

Once when Rumi was reading - a stack of books at his side - Tabrizi passed by. He asked Rumi, ‘What are you doing?’ Rumi disdainfully replied, ‘This is the knowledge that cannot be understood by the unlearned.’

Tabrizi threw the stack of books into a nearby pond. ‘What have you done?’ screamed Rumi and dived into the pond to retrieve his books. To his utter amazement, all the books were dry.  Stuttering, he asked, ‘What is this?’ The wise sage replied, ‘This is knowledge that cannot be understood by the learned.’

Shams Tabrizi was a devotee of Imam Ali. His father was a descendant of Imam Jafar Sadiq. The extraordinary mystic status that he attained was due to his unflinching love and devotion for the great Imam. He was so gifted that he could read a person’s mind and predict what was going to happen. He performed miracles that only Ali’s devotee could do.

Shams Tabrizi’s greatest miracle was Rumi. ‘I became what I am only after I met Shams,’ said Rumi, who himself attained status that one can only dream of.

-          NZ

20.6.2019


Comments

  1. Rachna20 June 2019 at 06:49

    The teacher became the student...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deepak Mehra22 June 2019 at 10:16

    What you are seeking is seeking you. You are not a drop in the ocean; you the entire ocean in a drop. I love Rumi’s philosophy. The non-duality of Rumi is similar to Advaita philosophy.

    ReplyDelete

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