Like the swirling dance of the Dervish, the
musical compositions of a young Muslim woman propel us from the
war-torn landscape of the Middle East to the Thirteenth Century
tableaux of the encounter of Rumi with his teacher, Shams of Tabriz.
The path of the heroine leads to her enlightenment and ours, as the war
within us is faced and transformed.
ORIGINS
Inspired by the poetry of the Sufi mystic Jalaluddin Rumi, as rendered by Coleman Barks, the author Dennis Spain conceived and mentally outlined the storyline during a "walking meditation" workshop held on the Big Island of Hawaii.
A year after the completion of the screenplay, the idea was conceived to also publish the story as a graphic novel.
When award-winning artist Natalie Marino joined the project, it was quickly realized that this book would be like no other graphic novel...and, in fact, would initiate a new genre in the arts: museum quality images in the graphic novel format.
FROM THE POPULAR BLOG OF mysticsaint.blogspot.com/ :
Shams (Shams-e-Tabriz) was the spiritual master to Rumi.
In Sufi tradition, spiritual master or guide is the successor, the
inheritor of the Prophet Muhammad. As the Prophet passed down his
spiritual illumination from heart to heart to his companions, so is the
role of a Sufi shaikh or master.
Shams was a wandering dervish. Rumi first met him in Konya
(a city in modern day Turkey) in the winter of 1244, when he was riding
past the sugar merchants’ stalls and Shams suddenly reached up and
grabbed the reins of his horse. Shams asked Rumi some mind boggling
metaphysical questions in the context of Islamic theology and mystical
illumination.
That particular exchange and meeting of minds led
on to a deep bond of love and friendship which developed between the
two. They would spend months together in khalwa [spiritual seclusion
and meditation, just as Prophet used to do regularly prior to his
illumination], suhba [spiritual conversation] and dhikr [remembrance of
God]. Shams opened up a part of Rumi’s heart which was ready for a
spiritual awakening; he unfolded like a flower at dawn. The jealousy of
Rumi’s students led to Shams disappearing once or twice, and then
finally he was never found again. Rumi went into mourning.
He
was seen turning and turning and turning in the market-place to the
sound of the gold-beater’s hammer. To Rumi, this sound was the
repetition of the Name of Allah. He adopted a special mourning robe,
and a honey-coloured hat, symbolising a tombstone. He also made a
hexagonal guitar, explaining that, “The six angles of this guitar
explain the mystery of the six corners of the world; its string
explains the hierarchy of spirits unto God.”
This was the
beginning of the whirling; although the formal sema [the whirling
ceremony] as we know it today came through the son of Rumi, Sultan
Velid, who formalized the Mevlevi Order.
