Moth: I gave you my life.
Flame: I allowed you to kiss me.
―Hazrat Inayat Khan
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Don't pretend to be a candle, be a moth, and know the power hidden in serving.
―Mevlana Rumi
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Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927) was a Sufi teacher and brilliant musician from India who started "The Sufi Order in the West" (now called the Sufi Order International).
Though his family background was Muslim, he was also steeped in the Sufi notion that all religions have their value and place in human evolution.
Inayat Khan traveled to the West in 1910 at the behest of his Sufi teacher, Sayyed Muhammad Abu Hashim Madani, who charged him with a mission: to harmonize East and West with the music of his soul.
He had dedicated his early life to the mastery of the subtle intricacies of classical Indian music under the tutelage of his grandfather, a musical giant who had integrated the Hindustani and Karnatic musical traditions of Northern and Southern India.
During only sixteen years in the West, Inayat Khan created a school of spiritual training based upon the traditional teachings of the Chishtiyya Sufi order and infused with a universal form of Sufism.
He traveled continually in Europe and the United States, first learning about Western culture and mentality, and then conveying the traditional Sufi teachings in a more universal way.
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Rumi (Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi) was a 13th century Persian scholar, poet, and Sufi mystic who is regarded as one of the greatest spiritual teachers of his time.
His best writings are found in the Masnavi, a poetic compendium of supreme wisdom and spiritual depth that was held as one of the finest works of literature ever seen and is today emblematic of the Islamic Golden Age.
Rumi often amended texts from the Koran to fit the lyrical rhyme and meter of his Persian verse, though his Persian readers would recognize this tactic while most American readers are unaware of the Islamic blueprint underlying his work.
His writings are not just layered with religion, but represent the historical dynamism within Islamic scholarship, as Rumi was heterodox within a Muslim context.
While Rumi's works have been widely popularized in the West, often in New Age interpretations that erase his Islamic roots, scholars argue it is important to recognize Rumi's writings as firmly grounded in the Sufi tradition and Islamic culture of his time.
His poetry expresses the longing of the soul for union with the divine.
