“It feels like Madina!”
I whispered to myself the moment I got off the Turkish Airlines at Konya Havalimani or Konya Airport.
The same peaceful feelings in the heart as we feel in Madina al-Munawara – the city of the beloved prophet Muhammad salla Allahu alaihi wasallam; the same tranquillity!
It was late evening. The city was already asleep unlike Istanbul, where the city was wide awake well beyond midnight. The hotel was within walking distance from Mevlana Rumi’s (Rah.) mausoleum.
It was the reason to visit Konya – to feel Mevlana by walking in the city he lived centuries ago, to breathe the air once he breathed.
In the lift to the hotel room, I listened in my heart someone said,
“Welcome, dervish!”
A warm welcome flooded my heart! I was not prepared for that!
I am not part of Mevlevi order, just an ordinary tourist visiting Turkiye for the first time. I am a fan of Rumi like millions of others around the globe.
I admired whirling dervishes in photos, paintings or documentaries. I loved collecting Rumi quotes from here and there and reflecting on them. I also loved sharing those.
Never wore the snow-white cloak of the dervish, never whirl in ecstasy!
It was shocking to be called “Dervish”!
Wait! Maybe I did whirl in my inner world! I did make a serious oath to myself when I was twelve. The Centre of my life will be Allah(God) as long as I live! My goal will be obeying Allah and his messenger, salla Allahu alaihi wasallam.
I have been whirling since then. Sometimes my steps were strong and stable, sometimes weak, but I did keep whirling because I loved it! Because I knew there was no other way but to SUBMIT to the SUBLIME. It is the best way.
After taking a good shower, I went to bed.
Something woke me up at midnight! I felt restless, got up from bed and opened the window to breathe fresh air. I felt a powerful magnetic pull, so much so that I felt like I would fall through the open window! I got scared and closed the window. It took some time for me to feel stable again. Then I offered Tahajjud or night prayer.
After that, I slept well and visited Mevlana Rumi’s mausoleum the next morning when it was opened to welcome visitors for the day.
Rumi lovers from different faiths and nations were there to pay their respect. We saw how dervishes learned, trained and lived in the Dervish Lodge. We saw an old manuscript of Rumi’s magnum opus “The Mesnevi”, the exquisite handwritten Qur’an by Rumi’s daughter Fatima and other memoirs. What a well-educated and well-cultured family they were! Dedicated themselves to seeking and sharing knowledge. Mevlana was sleeping peacefully inside the mausoleum along with his family members and some of his students.
Sleeping! Didn’t I have a little taste of a powerful soul the night before?
He is very much into teaching, always connecting with his lovers and seekers through his words, from the nooks and corners of the globe.
The next day I found a nice little bookshop on a street near the mausoleum. One of the books I got from there was named MEVLANA Jalal al-Din al-Rumi’s Teacher Sham-I Tabriz by Mevlut BUYUKBAYRAKTART.
In the book, Mevlana Shams Tabrizi, the shaykh or teacher of Mevlana Rumi, complements him with these words, “Let whoever wants to see the prophet look at Mevlana. He has the characteristics of the prophets. His habit is like the prophet, he has inner cleanness, dependence to the consent of Allah lovers.” He continues, “If you want to know the meaning and secrets of the words, ‘Wise are the inheritors of prophets’, go and see Mevlana.”
The great Shaykh reinforces his words again, “Let whoever wants to see Hz. Muhammad go and see Mevlana. Let them bend without any force like grass waving by means of wind. Whoever wants to act just the opposite, can live the way he wishes. What a happy person is he who has found Mevlana! Who am I? I am also pleased, as I have found once. If you have some suspects in your belief, he will directly remove your doubts.”
No wonder, Konya felt like Madina!
Photo: Mevlana Rumi’s (Rah.) resting place in Konya, Turkiye by R.I.J
Universal Spirituality 