The Mathnawi “Couplets” comprises six books of poetry in a didactic style,
ranging in length from 3,810 to 4,915 verses. The Mathnawi represents a single work which was composed in its present order. According to Afzal Iqbal, the Mathnawi
was called as ‘the Qur’an in the Persian.’ 1983: 175. Fihi ma fihi,
in fact, represents transcription of talks given by Rumi to various disciples. Like Mathnawi, it is very much a didactic work, explaining in detail and
through a great variety of comparisons and analogies different dimension of Sufi teachings. The Majalis-I sab’ah is a short work which comprises a number of
sermons obviously delivered not to an audience comprised only of Sufis but to a larger public.
The last work, Rumi’s Makatib is mostly addressed to various princes and noblemen of Konya and in fact are letters of recommendations or requests for various
favours written on behalf of disciples and friends. A small number are addressed to family members and disciples. In contrast to many collections of letters by Sufi
masters, the Makatib contains only one letter addressed specifically to someone who has asked for spiritual counsel Chittick, 1983: 5-7.
2.4 Criticism
Jelaluddin Rumi is so famous in the east that people there call him “Giants come forth from Afghanistan and influence the world” Idries Shah, 1964: 115. In
the introduction of Afzal Iqbal’s book The Life and Work of Jelaluddin Rumi, A.J. Arberry put a high appreciation toward the poet when he says that Rumi is the best
Poet of all whose come from Persia and his Mathnawi is ‘the great poems all the time’ 1983:11.
Idries Shah, in his book The Sufis supports the familiarity of Rumi’s translated books among the readers in the West when he said that Rumi’s familiar
presentation help people much to obtain the essential values in religion 1968:110. In the same book by Idries Shah, Doctor Johnson, best known for his
unfavourable pronouncements, mentions the undoubted quality of Jelaluddin Rumi: ”He Rumi makes plain to the Pilgrim the secrets of the Way of Unity, and unveil
the Mysteries of the Path of Eternal Truth” 1969:115. According to Iqbal, the values offered in Rumi’s work are always in
accordance with demands found in each era along human’s histories. He also has an excellent mode of vision toward humanity 1956:132.
Another good thing from Rumi is his sincerity towards other religions’ ways of thinking. Rumi’s work can be received universally since they contain relatively the
same experience in various religious backgrounds as it is mentioned by William C. Chittick in his book The Sufi Path of Love:
Rumi’s universe is shaped by the Koran, the prophet, and the Moslem saints, just as Dante’s is shaped by Christ, the Bible, and the church. But fortunately,
Rumi’s message is go universal and he is so liberal in his use of imagery drawn from the sources common to all human experience that this obstacle of
reading Rumi’s book by Western readers is not a fundamental one 1983:9.
Many people admire Rumi’s work and Professor R.A. Nicholson is one of them who puts a high appreciation toward Rumi’s works: “The Mathnawi one of the
sources of The Essential Rumi contains a wealth of delightful poetry” Shah, 1969:117.
Iqbal in The Life and Work of Jelaluddin Rumi continues his high appreciation towards Rumi’s spiritual life:
Rumi is a truly great artist. He is not afraid of death, for as a creative artist he draws his inspiration from his own immortal self for which there is neither
decay nor death but which, on the other hand, grows and develops
continuously 1956:136.
2.5 Theoretical Framework
In this thesis, I will just apply one theory; Structural-Semiotics in order to obtain a better understanding of the background and the message of mystical
experience as revealed in Jalaluddin Rumi’s poems. This theory is divided into two priorities, namely Structural and Semiotics.
Structural explores the textual level of the poems intrinsic. The analysis of the first layer is based on the elements of the poems which are seen from language, namely
words, prosodic features, and interpretation of the language in the poems at the intrinsic level. To construct the meaning in the first layer of interpretation, the
assistance of dictionary is needed. The role of dictionary is to explicate the structural meanings of the poems which later serve a basic foundation in organizing the essence
of the poem at a deeper level. Semiotics investigates the contextual level of the poems extrinsic level of
interpretation. Semiotics is used as the contextual information beyond the text which influences the author so that he is able to generate such works. This
information involves the information from religious ground, Sufism, Rumi’s life as well as the information suggested by the spiritual practitioner, Kuinjabihari, and
indeed, is relevant to discover the essential meaning of the poems. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the methodology in analyzing Rumi’s poems. There are three sections in this chapter. The first section is the subject matter, which concerns
with the topic of the thesis. The second is the approach employed in answering the problem. The last section is the procedures, which discuss about the process in doing
the study.
3.1 Subject Matter 3.1.1 “The Tavern”
“The Tavern” was taken from a book The Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks, et al whom they have dedicated most of their life to interpret Jalalludin Rumi’s
poems from Arabic to English. Coleman Barks, et al proclaim in the introduction of The Essential Rumi
that the book is the compilation from many categories: the quatrains rubaiyat and odes ghazals of the Divan, the six books of the Mathnawi,
the discourses, the letters, and the almost unknown Six Sermons. This book is divided into twenty-eight divisions which shed a light on Rumi’s esoteric thinking of other
realms. His collection of quatrains and odes is called The Works of Shams of Tabriz Divani Shamsi Tabriz.
The six books of poetry he dictated to his scribe, Husam Chelebi, are simply titled Spiritual Couplets Mathnawi, or sometimes he refers to
them as The Book of Husam. The wonderfully title of the discourses, In It What’s in It Fihi Ma Fihi,,
means “what’s in the Mathnawi is in this too”. From the source of origin, “The Tavern “was translated by Coleman Barks.,
et all in 2004 and this poem is taken from The Works of Shams of Tabriz. Since this PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
poem is taken from The Works of Shams of Tabriz, I fully realize that this poem is made intentionally to recall Rumi’s master, Shams of Tabriz. I definitely sure that
this poem was designed deliberately to remember and give the best appreciation to his truly master. Even though Rumi felt so despair losing his mystical friendship,
later in the development, he might have known that the person he was trying to seek for is in his heart refer to Chapter 2. This poem was made when Rumi lost his
mystical friend for the first time, later in the development Rumi asked his son to go to Damascus to bring Shams back to Konya. This is the time when Rumi started
writing his mystical poems dedicated to his mystical companion to express his deep longing and grief whose feeling separated from his partner. This poem consists of 6
stanzas and 26 lines. This poem describes about the origin of human being and the ecstatic union
of the present of the Truth which enables human being to build direct connection to his own God and feel the union symbolizes with the mystical experience. This poem
also describes how human in his grief and deep longing searches for the truth, thus human has to find the way back home to the true nature; Supreme Entity God
Hirmself, even how hard it takes. The obstacles to find the truth are so beautiful that human need to release worldly attachment which bound them to unite with the
Supreme Entity, Rumi put this fighting into words which are awesome.
3.1.2 “How Very Close”
Having similar mystical potential like the previous poems, “How Very Close” was also taken from the compilation of The Essential Rumi with different categories,
namely Fihi ma Fihi. Based on the information above, we know that Fihi ma Fihi is PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
