The Ambassador of Iran in Bangladesh Abbas Vaezi has said that poet and philosopher of the 13th century Jalaluddin Rumi wanted to unite all people through love.
Addressing a seminar on Jalaluddin Rumi organised by the Nawab Salimullah Academy at the National Press Club as the chief guest he said a great Islamic scholar Rumi spread the light of knowledge.The envoy of the Isloamic Republic of Iran said the poet who has immortalised himself through his 60,000 poems composed more than 700 years ago sought to communicate his mind, and in doing so he was imbued with the messages of the holy Qur’an and the Hadith.Jalaluddin Rumi was a teacher of love between people ambassador Abbas Vaezi said adding that his inspirations came from the Quran that teaches love between the Creator and his creations.
Dr. Mostafizur Rahman, director, People’s University of Bangladesh presented a keynote paper at the seminar presided over by Muhammad Abdul Jabbar, president, Nawab Salimullah Academy. Mostafa Kamal Majumder, editor, GreenWatch Dhaka, SM Nazrul Islam, writer and editor, Abdul Majid, former secretary to the government, and Ahsanullah Shamim took part in the discussion.
Mostafa Kamal Majumder dwelt on the powerful influence of Rumi on the globe and made mention of dedication of 2007 as the year of Jalaluddin Rumi by the Unesco. Rumi is a toehold name in Bangladesh he said adding Persian language and literature had great influence on the people of the Indian subcontinent for six centuries, and was abolished by the British as official language in the early 19th century.
The winning of the whole world through his powerful poetries and personal interactions by Sufi thinker Rumi disprove the present-day propaganda that Islamists are essentially trouble-mongers. Rumi is relevant today as he was nearly eight centuries ago and proves he was adherent to a superior religion.
Historian SM Nazrul Islam said many great poets drew inspirations from Jalaluddin Rumi, some verses of even world poets’ look like true copies of Rumi’s poems, he said. Nazrul said there was a rich treasure of Persian literature that the people of Bangladesh and those of the rest of India benefitted from for six centuries. With the change of the official language in 1830 from Persian to English, overtime the link with the past got severed.
Abdul Jabbar in his presidential address lamented the lack of unity in the Arab and Muslim World despite their glorious contributions to the world civilisation. Universally acclaimed works of scholars like Jalaluddin Rumi speaks of the height of thought of Islamic thinkers. The Muslim world should shun their petty differences and be imbued with the spirit of the greatness of the faith of Islam, he added. – Staff Reporter
