The Side of Islam No One Ever Told Us About

Spoilers: It’s pretty cool

Image taken from page 225 of ‘The Adventures of Hajjî Baba of Ispahan’ — sourced from the British Library, in the public domain,

Maybe you’ve heard of that guy Rumi. He’s this Persian guy that wrote poetry, mostly about love and God, and how awesome both of those things are, especially when you put them together. Rumi is a Sufi.

When I say “Persian” — I mean from Persia, which is only called Persia when we want to say something nice about it, otherwise it’s official name is Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān, or Iran, for short.

And when I say “God” — call him Allah, Deus, or Kami, if you dare put his name to paper.

And when I say “Sufi” — I refer to that side of Islam that no one ever told us about.

The tendency with nations at war is to demonize their enemies, and all that is related to them. We Americans have done a great job of this when it comes to the Middle-east.

Let’s talk a bit more about this Rumi guy. Here’s one of his poems, from the book Love: The Joy That Wounds: The Love Poems of Rumi.

And patience flees my heart,
And reason flees my mind.
Oh, how drunk can I get to be,
Without your love’s security?

Take a moment and reflect.