Shems Friedlander

R"umi and the Whirling Dervishes is an account of the Mevlevi Sufi order and its founder, the poet and mystic Mevlana Jalalu'ddin Rumi. After Rumi's death in 1273, the whirling dance was introduced as part of the Mevlevi ritual by Rumi's son Sultan Veled. Author Shems Friedlander has been making documentary photography of the whirling dervishes since his first trip to Konya in 1973, and this book features haunting, evocative pictures of the order's dancers, clad in their traditional white skirts and tall hats that represent their tombstones. Taken within the dervish lodges, known as tekkes, these photographs provide an insider's view of ceremonies usually closed to the public. Friedlander's images of the dervishes in mid-whirl evoke the exaltation of union with the divine source. In addition to Rumi's life story and the accounts of dervishes past and present, the book features excepts from Rumi's poetry and the teachings of other Sufi masters, descriptions of the tekke and the symbolism of the dervish ceremony, an overview of the music that accompanies the Mevlevis' turn and a concluding section on the universality of Rumi's message of love. This classic account of the Whirling Dervishes is now presented in a new and revised edition containing additional text and photographs.

Bringing to light previously unpublished material on the sacred music and dance, or sema, of the Mevlevi Dervishes, extraordinary photography contributes to the explanation of the significance and symbolism of the dress and movement of the dance performed in the Hall of Celestial Sounds.