Jalal al-Deen Muhammad Rumi: " Traveling Teaches You More Than Any Book Or Scripture Can Ever Teach You"
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
28 December
2022
When You Travel, See New Places And Come Across
A Spectrum Of People, You Realise That Things Are Far Different Than What You
Bargained For
-----
Woh Phool
Sar Chadha Jo Chaman Se Nikal Gaya/Izzat Use Mili Jo Vatan Se Nikal Gaya
(A flower
out of the garden is offered to god/ He who leaves his country or place is
respected)
Jalal al-Deen Muhammad
Rumi
-----
At the
moment I'm traveling and pondering over Rumi's famous quote, " Traveling
teaches you more than any book or scripture can ever teach you. "
Rumi
himself was a great traveller who was born in Balkh, Afghanistan that abuts
Eastern Persia and from there he went to Greece, learnt rudimentary Greek and
from Greece to the adjoining Turkey and passed away in Konya in Turkey.
According to Rudolph Denzyl, Stephen Colbrook and Wick Blenz, Rumi visited
India and stayed somewhere in northern India. But I doubt the veracity of this
claim.
Anyway,
that he travelled extensively is a fact and excessive traveling deepened his
perceptions. Those who've read Rumi's Masnavis in Persian are aware that
in the volumes 2 and 3, Rumi commented rather pejoratively on the skin colour
of people from the subcontinent and also of Africa. But before his demise, he
admitted his mistake and wrote in archaic Turkish, ' Ees Be La'na Min Shaaf
Rola El Aab' (When I travelled and interacted with different people, I
realized my misconception/limited knowledge).
After his
visit to Calcutta (sorry, no Kolkata), Ghalib wrote, " Kooche Hain Dilli
Ke Bahut Khoob Lekin/ Aab Mein Kalkatte Ke Sawaab Hai " (Although the
alleys of Delhi are so special, the water of Calcutta has purity and is
blessed). But some critics are of the view that this couplet was rather
sarcastic as Ghalib suffered from dysentery after drinking water in Calcutta.
Kabir was
unlettered but his excessive traveling made him wiser. When you travel, see new
places and come across a spectrum of people, you realise that things are far
different than what you bargained for. My traveling across the globe has
humbled me. Earlier, I had a streak of arrogance in me. Far better and wiser
people brought me down to earth. I met such people in the remotest parts of the
world.
So, travel
to unravel. For a seasoned traveller who's always on the trot, world could be
too small a place, but most of us who've not seen the length and breadth of it,
it's a galaxy.
-----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/deen-muhammad-rumi-traveling-scripture/d/128732
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