The great mystic and poet Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi was born in Belh (Balkh), in present day Afghanistan but in Greater Khorasan region back in Persian times, on 30th of September 1207 AD. His father Bahaeddin Veled, who was known as Sultan-ul Ulema (the king of the learned men), was a renowned scholar who, however, raised the ire of the established academia of his times by criticising the tenets of Greek philosophy. This and the start of the Mongol invasions made him decide to leave Belh. This was when Mevlana was only five years old. The family, which reached Anatolia after stopping in Yemen and Damascus, lived in Larende (Karaman) for seven years; and then, upon the invitation of the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I, Bahaeddin Veled settled in Konya in Central Anatolia in 1220. Mevlana married Gevher Hatun in Karaman and their son, Sultan Veled, was born in 1226 in the same town. Bahaeddin Veled, Mevlana's father, was a cultured scholar and mystic.

Mevlana was a Muslim, but not an orthodox type. His doctrine advocates unlimited tolerance, positive reasoning, goodness, charity and awareness through love. To him all religions were more or less truth. Mevlana looked with the same eye on Muslim, Jew and Christian alike. His peaceful and tolerant teachings have appealed to men of all sects and creeds. In 1958, Pope John XXIII wrote a special message saying: “In the name of the Catholic World, I bow with respect before the memory of Rumi.”

Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi's masterpiece, his six volume Mesnevi consisting of about 25,700 verses or 50,000 lines, is regarded as the most outstanding work of Persian - Islamic mysticism. It is not clear when Mevlana started writing the Mesnevi, though it is known that he started on the second volume of his magnum opus in 1264. These epic poems have been translated into more than 25 languages and is currently being translated into others. This masterpiece of Islam's mystic literature was written in the form of poetry which included philosophical, mystical, and spiritual messages and could in a sense be considered allegories which carry deep spiritual and religious meanings.

His second masterpiece, Divan-i Sems, though smaller in size is no less important from a literary and mystical standpoint. Divan-i Sems or (Divan-i Kebir as it is sometimes called) is a collection of verses (gazels) in which Mevlana reached heights of poetry, music and mysticism. It is regarded as the mature expression of his consciousness of universal unity (Vahdet-i Vucud).