Rumi and the Tradition of Ibn 'Arabi

A talk by Jane Clark first given at the RUMI 750 Gathering at Chisholme House in September 2023.

Click the link below to read and download the written talk along with notes on the text.

https://www.chisholme.org/uploads/images/pdfs/JaneClarkSept2023.pdf

Following her talk Jane Clark added the following note:

I realised after I had given this talk that when I refer to Rumi as ‘poor’, I perhaps give the wrong impression. It does not imply, as we might mean when we use the term today, that he was destitute, or that he was not well looked after by his followers. It is rather that he deliberately chose the kind of modest lifestyle that is usually associated with a man of God, in stark contrast to Qunawi.

This difference in lifestyle between these two great men is a common theme in the Turkish Sufi tradition, opening up questions about the real nature of spiritual poverty. The great 18th century master Ismael Hakki Bursevi relates the following story:

“One day Rumi and Qunawi were sitting together. Qunawi turned to Rumi and said: ‘For us it is to live like a king (sulṭān) during the day and to sleep at night like a poor man (faqīr).’ Immediately Rumi retorted: ‘And for us it is to live like a poor man during the day and to sleep at night like a king.’”

(See Stephen Hirtenstein, ‘Spiritual Poverty – Heavenly Riches' in JISS 1.2, 2022)

You can also listen to the talk HERE

Jane Clark is the editor of the Beshara Magazine, an online magazine presenting ideas of unity, inclusion and interconnectedness in all areas of contemporary thought, from spirituality to science, economics and the arts.

Jane is a Senior Research Fellow of the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society, and has been studying Ibn Arabi for more than forty years. She is engaged in teaching courses and lecturing on his thought both in the UK and abroad, and in research and translation of the Akbarian heritage.