Passion for one’s own faith is a wonderful thing, but it can also become a trap – the closing of the mind to wisdom found in other faiths. For me, it’s
Crossing the Khyber Travelogue
Leaving Istanbul we headed South on to the Anatolian Plateau to the exotic Cappadocia region. Goreme then Konya, home to the famed Whirling Dervishes. There would be no Konya or the Whirling Dervishes if it were not for Jalaluddin Rumi.
Rumi was born in Balkh, in the Khorasan district of Persia. After a pilgrimage to Bagdad, Mecca and Damascus, the family eventually settled down near Konya in a village called Rum. Hence Rumi.
Rumi today is closely identified with Sufism and Sufi Mysticism within Islam where devotees sought a mystical union with God.
During his travels Rumi met Shams ad-Din meaning The Sun of Religion, a wondering Sufi from Tabriz.