Rumi

One of my favorite writers who wasn't at all concerned with publication is the mystic poet, Rumi. This year there's a Course being offered at the DailyOm exploring one of his poems a day. I've signed up and now I get a Rumi gem in my inbox each morning.

From Wikipedia, there is a tale of Rumi's inspiration to finally pen his poems.

After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favorite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. One day, the two of them were wandering through the Meram vineyards outside Konya when Hussam described to Rumi an idea he had had: "If you were to write a book like the Ilāhīnāma of Sanai or the Mantiq ut-Tayr of 'Attar, it would become the companion of many troubadours. They would fill their hearts from your work and compose music to accompany it." Rumi smiled and took out a piece of paper on which were written the opening eighteen lines of his Masnavi, beginning with:

Listen to the reed and the tale it tells,
How it sings of separation...

I think that it's interesting that Rumi was inspired to act when his student and companion thought his words would make a good basis for troubadours and they would compose music to accompany it. Again we can see that there was no desire to pursue his work for monetary gain. His student's suggestion was that Rumi give poetry to troubadours for their use.

Admittedly, there is a touch of notoriety in this. Not just any person could give verse to troubadours. I'm sure Rumi was well-known by this time in his life, and his notoriety was well-earned. But it is not the same notoriety that we see on the pages of Us magazine and I think that is the difference.

Rumi's work was seen as art, rather than product. That's because during his lifetime, writing was considered an art, not a product. It was a different world then.

Knowing
Stop learning, start knowing.
The rose opens, opens
And when it falls
Falls outward.

- Jalal-ud-Din Rumi
(Translated by Andrew Harvey from A Year of Rumi)