The World of Rumi: DVD (Parts 1 & 2)

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The World of Rumi (Parts 1 & 2) DVD,
Two Films by Shams Friedlander,
[DVD Video]
[1]. Rumi, The Wings of Love.
[2]. Come to Life, al-Mahya.

Part 1: Rumi - The Wings of Love.

Viewed in several international film festivals, as well as the Musee de l’Homme in Paris, this film takes viewers into a secret world rarely seen by outsiders. Nearly eight centuries after his death, Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, May Allah be pleased with him, Sufi master and mystical poet is ever-present in the whirling ceremony of today’s Mevlevi dervhishes.

The Helveti Zikr, Mevlevi semas, and the Gharib, or secret, sema-not seen for over 100 years- were filmed in Cairo, Istanbul, and the Garden of Rumi in Konya.

This unique footage set to Mevlevi music is enhanced by interviews with Shaykh Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din (Dr. Martin Lings), Islamic philosopher and author Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Shaykh Tugrel Inancer, who reveals the hidden meaning of the reed flute.

Part 2 : Come to Life - Al-Mahya.

Once a year in the middle of the month of Shabban “mureeds” of the Demerdache Khalwati Sufi Order in Cairo go into small cells and make a spiritual retreat which has been a tradition in this order for over five hundred years. Shems Friedlander is the first person to be allowed to film this secret and sacred ceremony.

During the “khalwa” the mureed prays, fasts (as in the month of Ramadan), is silent, remains in seclusion, invokes the name of Allah, meditates, and maintains a state of ritual purity.

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"In this time, when many tongues presume to speak for God, their god, this film speaks to a truth that is beyond the ability of our human words to describe; the gift of love, the indwelling of God within the soul." -_{---Godfrey Reggio, Director "Koyaanisqatsi}"

"Seclusion from people will become inevitable for you, as will preference for retreat (khalwa) over human associations, for the extent of your distance from creation is the extent of your closeness to God-outwardly and inwardly." _{----Ibn al-Arabi}.

----Directed and Produced by Shems Friedlander ( 2005 ).

^{Running Time (both) 80 mins approx} | ^Colour | ^{Format : PAL} | ^{Region: 0} |

Also available The Circles of Remembrance : The World of Rumi Part 3.

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