Dushanbe will host an international symposium on Mawlana Jalal-ad-Din Rumi this week.
The event will be held at the initiative of the Turkish Agency for Cooperation and Coordination (TIKA).
Organized by the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan in cooperation with Selçuk University (Turkey’s state-owned higher educational institution), the symposium will take place at Tajik National Library from October 19-20.
Researchers from Tajikistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan are expected to participate in the upcoming event.
Recall, an international conference dedicated to the 800th anniversary of the great poet and thinker Jalal-ad-Din Rumi was held in Dushanbe on June 15, 2007. The conference that brought together known researchers from Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey discussed issues related to works by the prominent poet and theologian and their role in development of Tajik-Persian classical literature and spiritual development of society.
Mawlana Jalal-ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, also known as Mawlana Jalal-ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi, but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi, (September 30, 1207 – December 17, 1273), was a 13th century Persian (Tajik) Muslim poet, jurist, and theologian.
Rumi was born in Balkh (now part of Afghanistan) and died in Konya (in present-day Turkey).
His birthplace and native language/local dialogue indicates a Persian heritage. He also wrote his poetry in Persian and his works are widely read in Tajikistan, Iran and Afghanistan and in translation in Turkey, Azerbaijan, the United States, and South Asia. He lived most of his life in, and produced his works under, the Seljuk Empire.
Rumi’s importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders. Throughout the centuries he has had a significant influence on Persian as well as Urdu ad Turkish literatures. His poems are widely read in the Persian speaking countries of Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan and have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages in various formats.
