Rumi: A Life in Pictures(Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Art)

About the Book

Picturing the life story of Jalal ad-Din Rumi, a premier Muslim mystic and the original Whirling Dervish, the images in three extant manuscripts of Aflaki's Wondrous Feats of the Knowers of God provide a unique way to interpret the text. Part One: History and Context provides the medieval Anatolian historical setting; the broad contours of literary and artistic works of Islamic Hagiography; and the specific details of the three manuscripts to be explored. Part Two: Text and Image proposes a method for interpreting a hybrid literary-visual document as a grand narrative of the Family Rumi at the inspirational and ethical core of a virtuous community: flourishing within a complex Muslim society under divine providence. Pictures in the three manuscripts were produced by studios of painters under the patronage of major late 16th-century Ottoman sultans. The result of their efforts is a kind of 'visualised hagiography' uniquely capable of suggesting distinctive and often surprising twists on the narratives, enhancing the text with images of striking beauty and rich detail.

Table of Contents:
Preface List of Illustrations Part I: History and Context 1. Rumi, Sufism, and the Sultans in the Medieval 'Lands of Rum' 2. Islamic Hagiography: Literary and Visual 3. Visualised Hagiography: Manuscript and Method Appendix: Comparative Table of Images in Relation to Aflaki Story-Order Part II: Text and Image 4. A Virtuous Community 5. In a Muslim Society 6. Under Divine Providence 7. Conclusion: Little Images in the Big Picture Epilogue: Meanwhile, Over in Agra… Abbreviations to NotesWorks Consulted

About the Author :
John Renard received a PhD in Islamic Religious Studies, Harvard Univ. 1978, focusing on medieval Arabic and Persian religious texts, the history of Sufism, and Islamic art. He has taught since then in Saint Louis University’s department of Theological Studies. Publications thematically related to this volume include: Crossing Confessional Boundaries: Exemplary Lives in Jewish, Christian and Islamic Traditions (California 2020); Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment and Servanthood (California 2008); and All the Kings Falcons: Rumi on Prophets and Revelation (SUNY 1994).

Review :
His detailed analyses bring to life the narratives and goals of this work and the world of Rumi, his wives, children, and grandchildren. The book will be invaluable for those interested in literary and artistic portrayals of Rumi and for the light it sheds on the Seljuk context, the birth of Mevlevi Sufism, and Ottoman artistry, especially its analysis of the 16th-century, Persian-style illuminations. [...] Recommended. John Renard accepts and engages in a truly difficult task: bringing together word and image in a collection of manuscripts illustrating the biography of Jalāl al-Din Rumi (d. 1273), the well-known Persian mystical poet and founding persona of the Sufi Mawlawi order. [...] His handy appendix of images and numerous pictorial reproductions provide supportive materials to any future projects that seek to pick up the topic of reception in relation to Rumi and his biography as mediated by images. This pioneering work offers scholars of Rumi a new lens with which to read his life story, the lens of images. Scholars of hagiography and art historians will find fascinating new ground for cross-fertilisation as will all those interested in illustrated manuscripts. This carefully contextualised monumental study will be embraced by students of Islamic history, art and hagiographical literature.