One evening of Sufi poetry devoted to famous Persian poet Rumi

The ALPAD - Luso-Persian Association for Fellowship and Development promotes a lecture on the work of Rumi, a famous 13th-century Persian Sunni Muslim poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic, 25 November.

This second evening of poetry is sponsored, once again, by Porto city Hall, starting at 9.30 pm at the Almeida Garrett Municipal Library auditorium.

This event features a declamation of the work of the poet both in Persian (Nikdel) and in Portuguese (Luísa Azevedo), accompanied with live Persian traditional music, performed by Nuno Silva.

Mawlana Jalal-ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273), more popularly referred to as Rumi, was compared to Shakespeare, however, its influence goes beyond literature.

Although Rumi was a Muslim scholar and took Islam seriously, the depth of his spiritual vision extended beyond the constricted understanding of sectarian concerns. One rubaiyat states:

On the seeker's path, wise men and fools are one.

In His love, brothers and strangers are one.

Go on! Drink the wine of the Beloved!

In that faith, Muslims and pagans are one.

Rumi is very much popular in the United Sates, where he was a bestseller in 2014. His poems were recited during a Donna Karan fashion show and at the Opera "Monsters of Grace" by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson.