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Whirling dervish ritual honours Sufi mystic poet Rumi

Published:Sunday | December 26, 2021 | 12:08 AM
5. Fahri Ozcakil, sheikh of the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes offers his prayers during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony, in Konya, central Turkey.
5. Fahri Ozcakil, sheikh of the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes offers his prayers during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony, in Konya, central Turkey.
1. Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, central Turkey.
1. Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, central Turkey.
3. Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, central Turkey. Every December the Anatolian city hosts a series of events to commemorate the death of 13th-century Islamic scholar, poet, and Sufi mystic Jalaladdin
3. Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, central Turkey. Every December the Anatolian city hosts a series of events to commemorate the death of 13th-century Islamic scholar, poet, and Sufi mystic Jalaladdin Rumi.
4. Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony.
4. Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony.
6. Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, central Turkey.
6. Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, central Turkey.
2. A whirling dervish of the Mevlevi order performs during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya.
2. A whirling dervish of the Mevlevi order performs during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya.
Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, central Turkey.
Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, central Turkey.
7. Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, central Turkey.
7. Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, central Turkey.
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Each year, thousands of people travel to the Turkish city of Konya to attend a weeklong series of events and ceremonies that mark the death of the 13th-century Islamic poet, scholar, and Sufi mystic Jalaladdin Rumi.

Instead of mourning his death, however, the ceremonies celebrate what his followers believe is his union with God.

The main feature of the “Sheb-i Arus”, or “night of the union,” is an enchanting ritual performed by the dervishes of the Mevlevi order, more commonly known as the whirling dervishes.

The rite begins with a recital of prayers and verses from the Quran. The dervishes, dressed in long white robes symbolising shrouds, black cloaks symbolising tombs, and long headgear symbolising tombstones then rise from the ground to salute each other.

Leaving their cloaks on the ground, they take their places around the circular floor and begin to spin to reach a trance-like state that they believe unites them with God. The ritual is performed to the sound of chanting and music from a reed flute and other instruments.

As they whirl, the dervishes’ right hands are symbolically turned upward towards God, while their left hands are turned downward to Earth.

RECITAL OF PRAYERS

The ceremony ends as it started, with the recital of prayers.

Rumi, who is known as Mevlana in Turkey, was born in Balkh – which is now in Afghanistan – in 1207 but settled in Konya, where he died on December 17, 1273. His son, Sultan Veled, established the Mevlevi order of the mystical form of Islam, Sufism, after his death.

Although religious orders were banned in Turkey in the early 1920s with the establishment of the secular republic, the dervishes’ rituals were regarded as a cultural heritage and the order was largely tolerated. There are now many Sufi dervish orders around the world, including in the United States. Women have been allowed to join some lodges although an overwhelming number of dervishes are men.

In 2005, the United Nations’ cultural body, UNESCO, proclaimed the dervishes’ ritual a masterpiece of “the oral and intangible heritage of humanity”.

The structure holding Rumi’s tomb in Konya is now a museum as well as a pilgrimage site.

This year, visitors were able to return to the ceremonies honouring Rumi after the coronavirus pandemic forced last year’s commemorations to be held without spectators.

One visitor from the United States, Rupert Flowers, told the state-run Anadolu Agency that he travelled to Konya, inspired by Rumi’s best-known and welcoming quatrain:

“Come! Come again! Whoever, whatever you may be, come!

“Heathen, idolatrous or fire worshipper, come!

“Even if you deny your oaths a hundred times, come!

“Our door is the door of hope, come! Come as you are!”

AP