Movement, Journey, and Tourism in Rumi’s Poetry and Mysticism

In Mysticism, traveling and journeys are considered the essentials for self-knowledge, evolution, and theology. This research with a descriptive-analytical method tries to analyze the life, writings, and the legacy of Rumi - as one of the most prominent and influential mystics of history - in order to shed light on the concept, the roots, and the results of the journey from his point of view. In Rumi’s mysticism, the journey can be evaluated from a physical or spiritual aspect, and this term is usually accompanied by the concepts of separation and distance in his poetry. Rumi sometimes considers the journey as the reason behind this separation, while he sometimes considers it as its solution. The concepts of ‘whirling’ and ‘returning to one’s origins’ are among the other themes intermingled with the journey in his mysticism. These concepts can still be observed after hundreds of years in the ‘Sama Dance’ rituals in Konya. In general, Rumi considers movement, journey, and transformation as the basis for evolution and the transcendence of the human soul.

Keywords:

Journey , Rumi , mysticism , poetry , Tourism , Mawlana