Why should I seek? I am the same as

He. His essence speaks through me.

I have been looking for myself!

• Rumi

In the heart of 13th-century Konya, Turkey, the meeting of two luminaries—Rumi, the celebrated Persian poet, and Shams, the enigmatic mystic from Tabriz—marked the beginning of a profound spiritual journey that continues to inspire seekers of truth and enlightenment to this day.
Shams means sun in Arabic, and interestingly, the Sun is one of the most used subjects in Rumi’s verses. 

One of the greatest spiritual connections in history started unusually. Legend has it that one day, while Rumi was reading near a pool, Shams, who was passing by, stopped and asked him: “What are you doing?”, a simple question that mystics usually use to trigger a debate.

Rumi’s reply was shocking: “Something you cannot understand”.

Suddenly, Shams approached him and threw all of his books into the pool. Rumi, extremely irritated, took the books out of the water and to his great surprise, they were all dry. He couldn’t help but ask: “What is this?”, a question that Shams expected.

“Something you cannot understand”, he said. 

What you seek is seeking you

Rumi’s eternal thirst for knowledge and truth and Shams’ mysticism is what brought these two great poets together. In Persian, we call them ashiqs, which literally translated means lovers. Not to be confused with romantic love, as their “ashq” was merely spiritual and platonic. Indeed, for Rumi, Shams was shining the light of the Sun and drew out the darkness out of his heart.

Shams disappeared mysteriously and, according to some scholars, he might have been killed by Rumi’s close disciples who were jealous of their good companionship. Shams’ tomb can be found in Khoy, today’s Iran, and has been nominated as a World Cultural Heritage Center by UNESCO.

The question is: Would Rumi ever have become one of the greatest poets today if it weren’t for Shams’ spiritual love and mystical influence?

“If you find me not within you, you will never find me. For I have been with you, from the beginning of me.”
– Jalaluddin Rumi