Source Finding and Analysis of Modifications Made By Rumi and Shams in the Romantic Literature of the Umayyad Era

Abstract

The present paper investigates the reflection of romantic Arabic literature of the Umayyad era in the works of Rumi (Mathnavi, Maktūbāt, Fih Ma Fih, Majāles-e Sab'a, Dīwān-e Shams) and The Maqalat ofShams-e Tabrizi, theprimary sources of stories and verses, and a number of artistic modifications made by Rumi and Shams in the original poems and narratives. The issues addressed in this study are the reflections of the romantic literature of the Umayyad era (both stories and verses) in the works of Rumi and Shams, the changes made to these reflections in these texts, and if such changes were made by Rumi and Shams or had their roots in the references used by them. As will be shown, Rumi’s and Shams’ works contain verses by poets of the Umayyad era as well as stories about their lives. Rumi made modifications to characters, heroes, historical time of the stories, the poets’ names, and the text of the lyrics. Some of these modifications were the result of his personal creativity and some others originated from previous sources. Rumi’s modifications to verses were made both consciously and unconsciously, and by recalling memories. In the present article, some of the verses of Qays ibn al-Mulavvah- Amirī, Umar ibn Abirabi'a, Urva ibn Hazām, Ahvas-e Ansārî, Ibn-e Mayyādah, Mu’āwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān (from the Umayyad era), Hallāj, Mutanabbî, Abu Farās-e Hamadāni and Anvarî (from the succeeding centuries) have been identified in the works of Rumi and Shams. The history of some narratives has also been traced in texts such as Kitāb al-Aghānī, the Divan of Majnun, as narrated by Abū Bakr al-Wālebî, Museebat Nama of Attār, Hezār Hekāyat-e Sūfîan, Al-Futūḥāt of Ibn Arabi, Risālah Al-'Ainîyyah of Ghazālī, Tamhīdāt and Nāmahā (letters) of Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani.

Keywords

• rumi
• shams
• modifications to form and content
• the umayyad literature
• laylā and majnun