Ich bin der Staub, du bist die Sonne

“Reason is incapable of expressing love.  Love alone is capable of revealing the truth of love.” / Mowlana Djalal ad-Din Rumi

“He who gives, shall receive; he who forgets himself, shall find.” / Francis of Assisi

No other thinker and poet enjoys such recognition in the Moslem world as Mowlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207– c. 1273). In every book on the Islamic mysticism Sufism, one is invariably confronted with his poems, observations and beliefs.  Hardly any work of Persian, Arabic or Turkish literature is conceivable without his influence.  In Europe too, Rumi’s name – at least since Goethe’s West-Eastern Divan - has become synonymous with mystical ecstasy.  He respected all religions, understood their innermost nature as a continuum and developed a thinking dependent upon the will, which was based on a deep devotion to the beloved, to God.

His contemporary Francis of Assisi, the leading mystic and preacher in the Christian world, is also possessed with a burning love of God.  Considered mad by his contemporaries for his renunciation of worldly wealth, he retreated into solitude, meditated, prayed and praised creation.  His prayers, sermons and encomia display inner spirituality and great artistry.  He is famous for his Canticle of the Sun and his moving poetry.

As far as we know, Mowlana Djalal ad-Din Rumi and Francis of Assisi never met.  Whether they were aware of each other’s existence remains speculation.  And yet they have much in common: the same level of commitment in their willingness to follow their path in the face of all the obstacles society puts in their way, the absolute and radical nature of their spiritual quest and the clarity and beauty of their poems.

An evening which contrasts, reflects and connects the lives and works of these two great seekers, an excursus about love, the acceptance of diversity and the transcendence of the self.