We are the flute, our music is Yours;

We are the mountain echoing only You;

Pieces of chess, You marshall us in line

And move us to defeat or victory…

(Rumi, cited in Mabey2002, p. 35).

Sufism is the mystical expression of Islamic faith. Numerous orders or brotherhoods (tariqa) have been formed over the centuries, many following well-known spiritual leaders (shaykhs). Best known in the West is the Whirling Dervishes or Mevlevi, a path of which Rumi was the founder. Jalal al-din Rumi (1207–1273 CE) was born in Persia and settled in Konya in present-day Turkey. His poetry speaks eloquently of love and surrender to the Divine One and especially of the longing for mystical union (Rumi1975). The aim of the Sufi is to perfectly reflect the image of God in one’s heart, thus to achieve union with the Divine. For 2 years, Rumi’s closest soul mate was Shams-i Tabrizi, and after the unexpected departure of this companion, Rumi’s grief was expressed passionately as “the dance of the spheres”...