The last resting place of Maulana Rumi in Konya
Rafi Samad
The day I’ve died my pall is moving on
But do not think that my heart is still on earth!
Don’t weep and pity me: “Oh woe how awful!”
Don’t cry “Woe parted!” at my burial
For me this is the time of joyful meeting!
Don’t say “Farewell!” when I’m put in the grave –
A curtain is it for eternal bliss.
You saw “descending” now look at the rising!
Is setting dangerous for sun and moon?
To you it looks like setting, but it’s rising;
The coffin seems a jail, yet it means freedom.
What seed fell in the earth that did not grow there?
Why do you doubt the fate of human seed?
What bucket came not filled from out the cistern?
Why then the Yusaf “Soul” fare this well?
Close here your mouth and open it on the side
So that your hymns may sound in Where- no place
Professor Annemarie Schimmel
Poems of Rumi: Look this is Love.
Rumi died in Konya on 17th September 1273. He was buried near to the grave of his father, at a site, which once served as the Rose Garden of the Sultans of the Sultanate of Rum and was awarded to Rumi’s father by his patron and admirer, Sultan Allauddin Kaikobad.
During Rumi’s lifetime the Rose Garden did not serve as a center of Sufi learning, and most of Rumi’s scholarly activities took place at a Madrassah attached to a mosque located some distance away from the Rose garden. Sultan Valed developed a plan for converting the site around Rumi’s grave into a place of pilgrimage, where Rumi’s admirers would visit from time to time to pay their respects.
With the institutionalizing of the Mevlevi rituals by Sultan Valed through the creation of the Mevlevi Sufi Order, the need arose for creating suitable space for the activities of the Mevlevi Sufi Order. Rumi’s Tomb became the center around which these facilities started to develop. Sultan Valed initiated this development by constructing a tomb over the grave of Rumi – the Green Tomb or the Kubb-e-Hadra. After the death of Sultan Valed, additions and improvements continued to be made regularly on or around the tomb, mainly through enhanced patronage by the Ottoman rulers, who replaced the Seljuk regime towards the end of the 14th century.
Gradually Rumi’s Mausoleum became a part of the comprehensive Mevlevi institution. A Tilawat Khana was constructed near the entrance to the Mausoleum, where according to tradition, Rumi’s admirers prayed for his soul by reciting verses from the Quran. Adjacent to the Mausoleum a Sama Khana emerged, with a hall for Mevlevi ceremonies, and lodges for the Dervishes. In the yard outside the buildings housing the Mausoleum and the Sama Khana, a Mosque was constructed together with a Fountain, where the worshippers performed ablution.
The whole building Complex around the Mawlana’s Tomb presently serves as the Mawlana Museum. The Sama Khana at the Museum now functions only as a Museum piece. Another Sama Khana operates from a new site at Konya, a short distance away from the Mawlana Museum.
