Rumi in the Levant…

Our caravan is moving on from Central Asia to the Levant. There’s still so much for us to see–as we trace the legacy of Rumi to this tomb in Turkey…

In my piece Sharing the Sufis of Syria, I explored the vibrant Sufism–including whirling–being practiced throughout Syria today. In fact, Rumi was very familiar with Damascus–having traveled there himself…

Damascus, in many ways, served as the landscape of Rumi’s grief–since it is where he reportedly searched for his teacher Shams of Tabriz, after Shams disappeared (having fallen victim to those who were jealous of the love that he and Rumi shared). Many of Rumi’s most famous verses were composed out of an all-consuming longing for his lost friend…

Today, from dervishes whirling in Aleppo (below) to Sufis whirling in Beirut, Rumi’s legacy lives on in the Levant…