Remembering and Honoring Great Mystic Shams Tabrizi
Editorial of 2A Magazine issue 22- Ahmad Zohadi

There has been many epic love stories in the world which are well known and famous all over the globe, like Romeo and Juliet, Leili and Majnun, However none can come even close to the intensity and significance of the love between Molana and Shams Tabrizi. It is simply incomparable. The reason is because of the nature of Molana’s love and devotion, which was not emotional but divine. Molana has been searching for truth all his life, he has travelled from Balkh to kharaghan, Baghdad, Sham, and many other places, studied all the literature available on mysticism and religion, he attended many schools and worked and learned under many masters, he searched wholeheartedly , and even though he became a very well-informed and skilled scholar and knowledgeable man, however he couldn’t feel the bliss that one encounters and feels, when he realizes the truth, when he merges with divine, when a drop becomes an ocean. This happened when he met Shams Tabrizi accidentally in the bazaar, and he immediately felt the divine presence in Shams, he was totally immersed in the divine, and his ego and personality dropped, he was no longer identified with the past, his character, knowledge, philosophy. He was immediately transformed, the veil of ignorance which is identification with the false ego, dropped, the bubble burst and the drop realized that it is from the ocean and is the same. He felt an enormous divine energy, which he had no control over it. How can a drop control an ocean? He simply became ecstatic with the divine, which he could experience through Shams Tabrizi. From this point on, Molana’s writings and poetries became colorful and outstanding, because the divine gave them grace, melody and meaning. Of course Molana’s previous preparations and learning helped and gave structure to what he was trying to express, however the essence and contents which made Molana’s work, meaningful and special, was because of divine’s grace and gift, which was experienced only after Meeting Shams Tabrizi. Because real creativity in his poetry happened when his mind was stopped and overwhelmed by the presence of divine. And the mind can be stopped and a state of no-mind can be experienced either through true love or meditation.

Let’s try to understand original creativity from a mystical point, what is real creativity? Why is Rumi’s poetry so unique and eternally meaningful?

Because creativity means bringing an idea, design or work from unknown world to the known. Real creativity is realized when the person’s mind is absolutely silenced and is no longer under the influence of the past voices, images, thoughts and memories of his mind. Every thing in the human mind is repetitive and is the byproduct and reflection of his direct and indirect past experiences, and no repetitive idea can be considered neither creative nor original, because it is only a combination and rearrangement of the previous, old and existing ideas and concepts of the mind. The mind is the storehouse of our past conditionings and memories, and nothing new and original can arise from the busy and unsettled mind. Thus it can be concluded that an artistic work can only be called “original” if it has been realized through a meditative person such as Molana, whom has a complete silenced mind, during the moments of creation. All other artistic designs and works are simply inventions, not creativity. The word “original” means a design, idea or work which is purely derived from the “origin” and central core of existence, god, which manifests it through one’s soul. The real creativity flows from the heart. Of course what is meant by heart is a state of no-mind or silenced mind, where our analytical and logical mind is put aside and silenced, and our being is directly in touch with existence, without the hindrances and limitations of our mind.

To create any new and unique work, one must absolutely depart and free himself from the past, and while in the meditative state, his being enters into an state of absolute silence and serenity and when he is totally immersed and drown into divine ecstasy through meditation and tranquility, suddenly an image, sound, idea, poetry or a wonderful insight and blessing is revealed and received. This new revelation that is transmitted to one’s mind is a new original creativity, it is a gift and blessing from god to the mankind, it is a gift from the unknown to the known. Only a person who has experienced this pure inner silence and blissful state can be a bridge for bringing a new creation from no-manifested realm, to the manifested.

And Rumi’s poetry and its essence are totally original and non-repetitive because it has been song when he was in a deep ecstatic divine state where his mind was in pure silence and non analytical mode, and when his ego was not able to interfere, he had become like a hollow bamboo or flute, and had allowed god and existence to flow through him, in a way he had become a vehicle for divine creativity. And Shams was the catalyst which helped him to drop his mind and made it empty so divine could take over and fill his being.

The question that comes to mind is why is there only a little information about Shams Tabrizi both nationally and internationally?

Even though Shams was the spiritual Master of Molana and was the catalyst and spark which inspired Molana to become the poet and enlightened mystic? , How come Shams Tabriz’s mausoleum and his works are not attracting as much visitors and lovers of the divine? This was the motivation and cause to build the new mausoleum for Shams, and for this purpose an international design competition was held for selecting the best design for Shams. By doing so we try to show our respect and to honor this great mystic.