A wandering Persian dervish who walked into Rumi's life and upended it - then disappeared. The grief Rumi poured into verse after Shams vanished became some of the most ardent poetry in Islamic mysticism.
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Photos 8
Miniature of Shams Tabrizi by Hossein Behzad, dated 1957.jpg?width=1200)
A fine lacquered mirror case, school of Muhammad Isma'il, Qajar Iran, circa 1855-60 (cropped)
A fine lacquered mirror case, school of Muhammad Isma'il, Qajar Iran, circa 1855-60%2C_Qajar_Iran%2C_dated_1840-1841.jpg?width=1200)
A large portrait of Rumi's spiritual mentor, Shams-i Tabrizi (1185-1248), Qajar Iran, dated 1840-1841
Interior of Konya Panorama Museum 152248 06
Interior of Konya Panorama Museum 152248 07
Interior of Konya Panorama Museum 152248 08_meeting_Shams-i_Tabrizi._C%C4%81mi%CA%BF%C3%BC%E2%80%99s-siyer_of_Muhammed_Tahir%2C_Topkap%C4%B1_Palace_Museum_Library%2C_Istanbul%2C_H._1230%2C_fol._121a.jpg?width=1200)
Mawlana ("Rumi") meeting Shams-i Tabrizi. Cāmiʿü’s-siyer of Muhammed Tahir, Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Istanbul, H. 1230, fol. 121aIn their own words 10
There may be one fault in a man that conceals a thousand qualities, or one excellence that conceals a thousand faults. The little indicates much.
Maqalat-i Shams-i Tabrizi [Discourse of Shams-i Tabrīzī] as translated and annotated by William C. Chittick (2004)
Intellect takes you to the door, but it doesn't take you into the house.
Maqalat-i Shams-i Tabrizi [Discourse of Shams-i Tabrīzī] as translated and annotated by William C. Chittick (2004)
The salat can be made up for, but there is no making up for false show or outward worship without presence.
Maqalat-i Shams-i Tabrizi [Discourse of Shams-i Tabrīzī] as translated and annotated by William C. Chittick (2004)
Writers born in the 1180s 6
About this person
Shams Tabrīzī was born in 1185, a Persian dervish whose name means nothing until it collides with another's. He met Rumi in Konya and taught him in seclusion for forty days - a span that rewired the older poet entirely. Then Shams fled to Damascus. Rumi's "Divan-i Shams-i Tabrīzī" is saturated with reverence and loss, the absence of the teacher becoming the subject itself. Shams died in 1248. His tomb was recently nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status, a belated institutional nod to a man who left no writings of his own, only the shape of what he took away.
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