ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: There is a dire need to spread the thoughts of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi in order to bring stability not only to the country but also to the whole world.

This was stated by speakers at a function held in connection with the birth anniversary of Mawalana Rumi under the aegis of Rumi Forum here on Wednesday.

Those who spoke on the occasion included Azerbaijan’s Ambassador Dr Eynullah Madatli, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Religious Affairs Allama Hamid Saeed Kazmi; Naveed Zafar, Talat Farooq from the Bahria University; Dr Naeem Mushtaq, Dr Seema Arif from the University of Central Punjab; Dr Ghazala Mehdi from Quaid-i-Azam University and Ahsan Akbar.

The speakers read their papers on the thoughts of Rumi and highlighted his teachings. They said intellectuals from any religion got benefits from his Mathnawi but those who understand Islam always gained spiritual blessings from it. “Rumi is a symbol figure for worldwide love, tolerance and dialogue. The name of Rumi stands for love and ecstatic flight into the infinite. If there is any general idea underlying his poetry, it is the absolute love of Allah.”

His influence on thought, literature and all forms of aesthetic expression in the world of Islam cannot be overrated. He is one of the great spiritual masters and poetical geniuses of mankind and is the founder of the Mawlawi Sufi order, a leading Sufi brotherhood of Islam.”

Rumi was born in Balkh on September 30, 1207, to a family of learned theologians. Escaping the Mongol invasion and destruction, Rumi and his family travelled extensively in the Muslim world, performed pilgrimage at Mecca and finally settled in Konya, Anatolia, which was part of the Seljuk rule.

When his father Sultanul Ulema Bahauddin Walad passed away, Rumi succeeded him in 1231 as professor of religious sciences. The 24-year-old Rumi was by then an accomplished scholar in religious and positive sciences.

He was introduced into the Sufi path by a wandering dervish, Shamsuddin Tabriz. His love and his bereavement for the death of Shams found their expression in a surge of music, Sema and lyric poems called Divani Shamsi Tabrizi.

Human being in the Sema is part of the inspiration of Rumi as well as of Turkish custom, history, beliefs and culture. Sema consists of seven parts.

Rumi is the author of six-volume didactic epic work, the Mathnai called ecstatically as the holy book in Persian by Jami. It discourses “Fihi ma fihi” written to introduce his disciples into metaphysics.