I don't think Rumi's obsession with Shams was the sort of obsession we think of, in layman's words. It was a longing. Rumi was able to see God's guidance coming to him through Shams and I am using another symbol here, a thirsty getting water from a fountain. Being a human, I would think may be it must be going through Rumi's mind that Shams, the fountain, was the source of that Water. But Shams, in his role as a teacher and mentor, wanted to discourage that thought process as he was just a channel for that Water and that was the reason he disappeared, so that Rumi could quench his thirst without having the any channel in between.

In spiritual teachings of Islam, the role of a Shaikh is to prepare a seeker's heart for spiritual discernment, an inner ability to tell the truth from the falsehood, an ability to witness one's own self and watch one's own intentions so that even our deepest thoughts are purified truly for God. With this continuous and rigorous practice, which spans ones lifetime, one's goal is to reach the stage which is called Nafs-Al-Mutmainah, those who are pleased with God and God is pleased with them.

We can use the example of a university professor and his pupil, to understand this role a Shaikh plays in a disciples journey of inner knowledge. When a pupil is a freshman, he/she has to be taught and trained the basics, the intermediate and then advanced branches of the knowledge one is seeking. Once the teacher becomes satisfied that the pupil is now ready to tread on his/her own, they get out of the way, so that the pupil can apply that knowledge, gain experience and evolve themselves in that area of study. Does anybody ever say, I don't need a teacher to study Medicine? Knowledge is out there, I should just learn it myself? Sure if one tries, one probably can, but having a teacher makes it a lot easier and worthwhile. The same process is employed in spiritual teachings as well and a Shaikh's role is exactly like a university professor.

I am sure if you are a university professor and you notice that a pupil is becoming so obsessed with solving the classroom problems that he/she is not making much effort on getting ready to get into the life beyond the school and beyond the classroom, the wisest thing for the professor would be to get out of the way.


This is my understanding of spiritual teachings of Islam (known in the West as Sufism) and I know there may be some cultural customs or traditions, which must have mixed with the original teachings (therefore all these different customs of seeking intermediaries and so forth). Real Sufi teachings focuses on inner development and becoming a complete human, following the way of Prophet(SAW) and his companions and other blessed beings which have followed his way.

As for spiritual Islam being closer to Shiism, you can do your own study, there is plenty of material available online. I don't categorize myself into Sunni or Shia, as I am just a Muslim.

first of all ....i apologize ...i should have been a bit more careful with my choice of words ofsourse ...i was just rambling rather candidly ....it had no intentions of of disrespecting anyone at all ...honestly ...second ...that poem by a sahabi that u quoted is actually not that controversial to me ....ummm im nott sure which specific denomination of islam u subscribe to ...and i think it seems that u obviously have a more expansive knowledge with regards to islam than me ...my question is ...that for sunni's its not allowed to even have murals of the prophet himself nor do we seek allah's favors through the prophet or saints and stuff ...(i know actually there is a sunni denomination that actually does consider the prophet made out of 'noor'and believe in peers and stuff..and shia's have murals of hazrat Ali and all that ) .....but main stream sunnis are very adamant in regards to very respectfully maintaining the prophet's image as a human messanger chosen from among us and anointed prophet ....agree ?....now ...again ....that doesnt mean i suppose that the sunnis are correct and everyone should follow them ...but im just talking mainstream ...is mysticism closer to shia'ism ? ...cuz my point is this ....Rumi was so obsessed (if i may use the term without offending ) with his friend shams ...that shams thought that he needed to go away in order for rumi to grow further ...??? and after a while rumi found shams within himself .... i mean ....i know you'll probably point out that they did what they did ...regarding the seperation and all in their quest for love of god ....but why the medium of a human to seek god through ?....or is it that A person ...any person ...shams in this case is just any object to channel ur love through...i mean i kinda do see it ...its just that i feel that islam tried to discourage any form of human involvelment with regards to and leading to divinity ...i'll come up short if u asked me for references ....but im just speaking in lehman's here ... :) or im i completely off the mark here ?

Please consider this verse in Quran
islamicity.com

18:28. And keep thy soul content with those who call on their Lord morning and evening, seeking His Face; and let not thine eyes pass beyond them, seeking the pomp and glitter of this Life; no obey any whose heart We have permitted to neglect the remembrance of Us, one who follows his own desires, whose case has gone beyond all bounds.

This is the spiritual companionship we are talking about and that is the sort of companionship Rumi and Shams had and that is the companionship every seeker of Truth has with his/her spiritual mentor/teacher or Shaikh.

As for praising the appearance of another male, you have to understand that there was a custom of that in that culture and there was nothing sexual about it, as the author of this article categorically asserts. Rumi and his disciples to this day, have condemned any form of homosexuality.

To give you a perspective, there is a beautiful poem written by a companion of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), Hessan Bin Sabit (RA) in praise of the Prophet (SAW) which starts like this

"My eyes haven't seen anybody better(in appearance) than you."
"No mother has given birth to anybody more beautiful than you".
"God created you free from all shortcomings"
"As He created you the way He wished".

I know for western sexually charged minds even this poem would seem suspicious.


You will have to show me some proof from Quran that it is not allowed in Islam to see God's love for us, through His creations. I have one example for you which rather validates this teaching of Sufism of seeing God's mercy and Love in His creations.
islamicity.com

"41:53 Soon will We show them our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things? "

Here the contrast is between our souls to the furthest regions of the universe (al-afaq) and off course anything in between. If you have a real "eye" to see you can see God's signs even in a microbe or a nano-particle.

As for your things seeming bizarre, I think Einstein's theory of relativity or Newton's laws of motion may seem equally bizarre to some people, who are not much into science. One has to have an interest and a certain aptitude to understand any branch of knowledge.

If Sufism and its symbolism seem bizarre to you, then my advice will be please don't study it or follow it, it just means its not for you. But there are people, whose hearts resonate with these teachings and who can relate to this symbolism and God has shown them guidance, through this way, please respect that fact instead of mocking those teachings or that symbolism. Unlike you, I am not claiming that this is the only way to God, as there are more than one ways to God and God shows each of us our way to Him, how He chooses. (God Knows the Best).

Rumi did employ the symbolism of homoerotic, or more properly, androgynous love, in his poems addressed to Shams as the divine beloved, but this merely adopts an already 300 year-old convention of the poetry of praise in Persian literature."

from the link u provided ....2 things ....one is the homosexuality that i asked about ...the other is a slightly diff issue ....which would probably go to the heart of the problem that sunni muslims feel regarding mystical islam ...whats with that whole seeing god through a loved one thing all about ....its a lil bizarre and quite frankly i dont think its allowed in islam ...i do understand the concept of the whole thing ...trust me i do ...i keep an open inquisitive mind towards thing that i dont agree with ....but isnt that just straight up not allowed in islam ????

I found a very useful article by just searching "Rumi and Shams" on google, it does touch on this question you have posted so I hope it will help you understand the nature of friendship between Rumi and Shams.
www.dar-al-masnavi.org

I think it will help if you can give some discrete example instead of just talking some random ideas or perceptions you had from reading his poetry. I may be able to offer my input if you give me some examples.