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The Islamic theologian, Rumi (Turkey, 1200s) - having come from a long line of theologians - and sermon-giver, had tired of his celebrity status. Shams Tabriz, a Sufi dervish, was tired of his solitude.
Shams had heard of Rumi and traveled to Konya to meet him. The two met on a November 1244 afternoon at a crowded bazaar. Soon, Rumi descended his mule and, leaving his entourage and past life behind, followed Shams, twenty-two years his elder, to be his disciple.
Gafori depicts Shams as a "scruffy vagabond." He was a free-thinker who attracted many and irritated others. He eschewed having disciples.
After meeting, Rumi said Shams was his "doorway to the sun." Rumi often refers to Shams in his poetry, somewhat like many Christians refer to Jesus. Rumi began writing poetry after Shams fled, being harassed by former disciples who were jealous of his relationship with Rumi. Sham's departure devastated Rumi. The connection with Shams remained, for the connection was in-spirit, not confined within the laws of place and time.
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Flying to the heights of Sham's soul speaks of Rumi's devotion to Shams and the latter being a connection point for Spirit and Rumi. Rumi was flying 'upward' to Allah (lit., "the God") in soaring to the heights of consciousness, or being.
The ascent - one could say descent - is into a subtle consciousness and awareness. One returns from the world of it to Thou. Going more into Spirit is going more into the self and vice versa, from the mind-body to the Heart, from form to Formless. All the going is one going.
Shams had become Rumi's "doorway to the sun." Is it possible for someone to be the doorway for you? Someone is now or was? Present in body or no longer present in body? Have you been that for someone else?
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We may enter a relationship where another is a doorway for us like Shams was for Rumi. Yet, doorways to the sun are everywhere. The key is our preparedness to recognize and consent to be drawn through the entrance to the House of the Sun. We see the sun and become the sun. In this Love, we become the Love we love.
I aspire to be a doorway to the sun for persons I am honored to serve and those I meet daily. To be that, I cannot make it happen. I can allow it to happen. Spiritual life is an ongoing consent. So with us all.
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*©Brian K. Wilcox, 2023
*Brian K. Wilcox, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
*Historial background on Shams and Rumi is from Gafori: see source above.
