Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Rumi
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Rumi
Who could have predicted that the 13th century Persian poet Rumi would have such a huge presence on the Instagram feeds of post-Millennials? Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi, to give him his full name, was a Sufi master who wrote ecstatic mystical poems about joy and love and the search for divine truth. His poetry would literally move people to dance, which is where the notion of the ‘whirling dervish’ comes from. 800 years on, what is it about the poetry of Rumi that continues to strike a chord with so many today, including artists like Madonna and Coldplay’s Chris Martin? For some, Rumi has been sanitised for a secular Western audience, but not everyone can read Persian.
Ernie Rea chairs a special discussion about Rumi's appeal, recorded at the BBC's Contains Strong Language Festival in Hull.
Contributors:
Narguess Farzad – Senior Lecturer in Persian Studies at SOAS University of London;
Alan Williams – Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Religion at the University of Manchester, who is currently translating the six volumes of the Masnavi;
Shaykh Paul Salahuddin Armstrong – Managing Director of the Association of British Muslims and member of the Naqshbandi Sufi order;
Jamal Mehmood - writer and poet.
Producer: Dan Tierney
View all episodes
By BBC Radio 4
4.4
9797 ratings
Who could have predicted that the 13th century Persian poet Rumi would have such a huge presence on the Instagram feeds of post-Millennials? Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi, to give him his full name, was a Sufi master who wrote ecstatic mystical poems about joy and love and the search for divine truth. His poetry would literally move people to dance, which is where the notion of the ‘whirling dervish’ comes from. 800 years on, what is it about the poetry of Rumi that continues to strike a chord with so many today, including artists like Madonna and Coldplay’s Chris Martin? For some, Rumi has been sanitised for a secular Western audience, but not everyone can read Persian.
Ernie Rea chairs a special discussion about Rumi's appeal, recorded at the BBC's Contains Strong Language Festival in Hull.
Contributors:
Narguess Farzad – Senior Lecturer in Persian Studies at SOAS University of London;
Alan Williams – Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Religion at the University of Manchester, who is currently translating the six volumes of the Masnavi;
Shaykh Paul Salahuddin Armstrong – Managing Director of the Association of British Muslims and member of the Naqshbandi Sufi order;
Jamal Mehmood - writer and poet.
Producer: Dan Tierney
More shows like Beyond Belief
View all
Global News Podcast
7,588 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
376 Listeners
Newshour
1,049 Listeners
In Our Time
5,470 Listeners
In Our Time: History
1,880 Listeners
In Our Time: Culture
614 Listeners
In Our Time: Science
730 Listeners
Arts & Ideas
301 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,758 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,043 Listeners
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
2,118 Listeners
Great Lives
480 Listeners
Profile
106 Listeners
Thinking Allowed
297 Listeners
Moral Maze
72 Listeners
The Audio Long Read
852 Listeners
Front Row
135 Listeners
Start the Week
159 Listeners
The Briefing Room
81 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,180 Listeners
Cyber Hack
1,632 Listeners
This Cultural Life
80 Listeners