DUSHANBE, November 3, 2011, Asia-Plus — On Wednesday November 2, Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi met with Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Istanbul, the Tajik MFA information department reports.
Zarifi handed over President Rahmon’s welcoming message to President Gul. The minister also handed over an invitation from President Emomali Rahmon to President Abdullah Gul to visit Tajikistan at any convenient time. Zarifi also informed President Gul of his meeting with Turkish entrepreneurs in Istanbul.
Abdullah Gul, for his part, underlined the significance of expansion of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
He also offered the Tajik side to consider the issue of launching an additional flight of Turkish Airlines to Dushanbe and invited President Emomali Rahmon to attend the Shebi-Arus ceremony that will be celebrated in Konya on December 10, the source said.
It is to be noted that Sheb-i Arus is an annual ceremony that is celebrated on December 17 to mark the death of prominent Muslim poet, jurist, theologian and Sufi mystic Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, who is popularly known as Mawlana.
Sheb-i Arus or “Wedding Night” (the correct Persian would Shab-e Arusi) is the traditional night in the modern era when the Mevlevi Order of Sufis, the whirling dervishes, and the many lovers of Mawlana celebrate and remember his union with his Beloved, his ‘Wedding with Eternity.’
All over the world where there are Mevlevi dervishes, in Turkey, in Syria, in North America and in Australia, Sheb-i Arus is celebrated with Sema. The Sema or, legendary whirling prayer-dance, is one of the world’s most beautiful and stirring sacred rituals. The Sema is held each year in honor of Sheb-i Arus, or, Rumi’s great return. The ceremony portrays humankind’s spiritual unfoldment towards a state of perfection.
