Shams Tabrizi

Shams of Tabriz claims that he foresaw the meeting with Rumi—the most important event of Rumi’s life—in a dream. He states:

“I saw in a dream that they told me: ‘We shall place you in companionship with a saint.’
I said: ‘Where is that saint?’
They said: ‘He is in Rum… The time has not yet come! All matters are bound to their appointed times.’”
(Maqālāt of Shams of Tabriz, vol. 2, p. 162)

There is not much reliable information about the life and works of Shams of Tabriz, and it is unclear whether the collection of writings attributed to him truly belong to Shams himself.

The Book of Maqālāt of Shams (The Conversations of Shams of Tabriz)

Shams al-Din Tabrizi showed little interest in writing down his thoughts or poetry, and most of what has been preserved in his name has been transmitted through Rumi and other companions. Among the works attributed to him is the book Maqālāt of Shams. This book is a collection of sayings, poems, and captivating anecdotes spoken by Shams during his stay in Konya and written down by Rumi’s and Shams’s disciples and admirers. Initially, these sayings existed as scattered notes that were gradually and fragmentarily gathered into a single volume, which today is considered one of the important texts of mystical literature. According to Badi‘ al-Zaman Foruzanfar, the eminent Iranian scholar of Rumi, there is an undeniable connection between the Maqālāt of Shams and the Mathnavi-ye Ma‘navi, as though Rumi was profoundly influenced by Shams’s words and often composed his stories and parables inspired by them.
(Source: Ketabrah website)

It appears that the intention of the author or authors of the Maqālāt of Shams was to undermine the exalted spiritual station of Rumi by portraying him as a follower of a corrupt and egotistical individual who neither accepted God, nor the Qur’an, nor the Prophet Muhammad.

The following material is taken from wikitasavvof.com:

Shams described the Qur’an as follows:

“What is meant by the Book of God is not the written mushaf (the physical Qur’an), but rather that man who shows the way. He himself is the Book of God; he is the sign, and within that sign are many signs.”
(Halabi, Ali-Asghar, Foundations of Mysticism and the States of Mystics, p. 557)

In another passage, the master of the path considers the spiritual guide to be the alchemy of salvation rather than the Qur’an:

“Thus we realized that what delivers you is the servant of God, not that mere written text. Whoever follows the ink has gone astray.”
(Maqālāt of Shams of Tabriz, 2012, vol. 1, p. 316)

Elsewhere, he speaks of unbelief, heresy, and Islam:

“My joy lies in my unbelief, in my heresy; there is not much joy for me in my Islam.”
(Maqālāt of Shams of Tabriz, 1990, p. 144)

It is also claimed that Shams accuses Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) of deficiency in spiritual knowledge, while regarding a woman such as Rābi‘a al-‘Adawiyya—despite her alleged immoral past—as a true mystic who should serve as a model for both men and women.
(Maqālāt of Shams of Tabriz, p. 343)

In the Maqālāt, Shams narrates an incident in which one of his students asks him for sexual relations. In explaining this episode, Shams says:

“Desire in me had so completely died that that organ had withered away, and all lust had withdrawn from it. Then I saw in a dream that I was told: ‘Your self has a right over you.’ Give it its due. Thus, in obedience to God’s command, Shams went in search of a handsome youth and spent the night with him.”
(Maqālāt of Shams of Tabriz, p. 109)

Another example of Shams’s attraction to handsome youths is his request to Rumi, expressed as: “I want a lovely young witness,” asking him for a good-looking adolescent. Rumi is said to have offered his son, Sultan Walad—known for his beauty as the “Joseph of the age.”
(Jami, Nafahat al-Uns, p. 538; Aflaki, Manaqib al-‘Arifin, vol. 2, p. 622)

Shams, in addition to his harsh and biting language and extremely rough temperament, is also reported to have used obscene expressions. Some of his words dealt explicitly with sexual matters, portraying him as an indecent and ill-mannered individual:

“He said: ‘So-and-so came from a distant journey, having heard of such-and-such a shaykh. When he arrived, the shaykh asked him, “What did you come seeking?” He replied, “I came seeking God.” The shaykh said, “God…” and made an obscene gesture toward someone. “That was it—go back.”’”
(Maqālāt of Shams of Tabriz, 2006, p. 95)

He is described as being so shameless and indecent that he would even disclose the most intimate sexual secrets to others.
(Maqālāt of Shams of Tabriz, p. 869)

According to these accounts, such behavior was not limited to private storytelling; it is alleged that he even engaged in amorous acts publicly, without concern that others might witness them.

(End of material from wikitasavvof.com)

As stated, the authors of these Maqālāt are unknown, and some of the material is considered fabricated, written solely to tarnish the moral character of Rumi.

Throughout history, many religious scholars and authorities, in order to preserve their own status, either killed those who thought differently or sought to destroy their reputations through false accusations. Although lying is considered a major sin in Islam, such falsehoods were repeated from various sources until many people accepted them as truth.

It is narrated from Imam Zayn al-‘Abidin (peace be upon him):

“Avoid lying, whether small or great, in seriousness or in jest; for when a person lies in small matters, he dares to lie in greater ones.”
(Tuhaf al-‘Uqul, p. 278)

Considering the conditions of the Middle Ages and the religious fanaticism of that era, and taking into account the beliefs attributed in the Maqālāt of Shams, both Shams and Rumi—who was regarded as his follower—would have been labeled atheists, heretics, irreligious, apostates, polytheists, and deviants, crimes for which the punishment was death. No one would have followed such a person who openly taught such beliefs—yet we know that both had many followers.

Therefore, these Maqālāt cannot be regarded as reliable historical documents. Most importantly, in all of Rumi’s authentic works, not only do we find no such deviations, but rather an abundance of reverence, humility, and self-effacement before God, the Holy Qur’an, and the Prophet Muhammad.

The use of extremely coarse language in the Mathnavi may astonish modern readers—words that even common people today consider vulgar. However, at that time such expressions were part of the prevailing culture and were not regarded as especially offensive.

It was Rumi who made Shams known; it is possible that others later adopted the title “Shams” to benefit from his fame and mystical reputation. The fate of Shams himself is uncertain. Some believe he withdrew into seclusion; others claim he was killed by Rumi’s disciples, who deeply resented him, and thrown into a well outside Konya. Another group believes he returned to his birthplace, Tabriz, and died there. Today, two tombs are attributed to him—one in Khoy and another in Turkey—both surrounded by doubt and serving as sources of income for their custodians. Recently, it has even been claimed that there is a third tomb attributed to Shams in Pakistan.

Mohammad Ali Movahhed, a prominent scholar of mysticism, believes that the site near the city of Khoy known as the Minaret of Shams of Tabriz, which has great antiquity, is his true resting place. However, other eminent scholars such as Badi‘ al-Zaman Foruzanfar and Mohammad Ali Tarbiyat do not agree with this view. Franklin D. Lewis, a leading Rumi scholar, although uncertain about Khoy as Shams’s burial site, considers it—based on available evidence—to have been Shams’s final place of residence.

Some even believe that Shams never had a physical existence and appeared to Rumi only in dreams, like an angel appearing to the Prophet Daniel to foretell future events.