Honorable guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me first of all say how much I would have loved to be with you this evening celebrating the 800 th anniversary of a global phenomenon, a gift to mankind, a source of inspiration for generations, a spiritual light for eternity, a force for reason and tolerance, Mowlana Jalaludin Balkhi-Rumi.

A philosopher and mystic, a poet of unmatched depth and spiritual height, Mowlana transcended borders, empires and cultures. He was born close to the Mother of Cities in what is today northern Afghanistan, spent years traveling across Persia and Arabia, and settled with his father in Konya, Anatolia, then part of the Seljuk dynasty.

Already by the age of 24 he was considered as an accomplished scholar, thinker and writer. He was swept by the wandering dervish, Shams Tabrizi, and upon Shams’ death, expressed his bereavement and love through the Mathnawi, an epic work of genius and compassion.

Rumi belongs to all humanity. He is revered by those who believe in tolerance, reasoning, generosity, compassion and spirituality. He was a 13 th century globalist and humanist. He built bridges between cultures and religions. There is so much for today’s generations to learn from this learned man, who as a Sufi pushed the boundaries of humanity reaching the higher ground, an absolute love for the creator.

He bid farewell to all mortals in 1273, his funeral attended by men and women of five faiths. But his work and his gift to humanity are immortal and live on to this day with new believers across the world and across cultures. He wrote:

I am not from the East or the West,

not out of the ocean
or up from the ground,
not natural or etheral,
not composed of elements at all.

I do not exist,
am not an entity in this world
or the next,
did not decend from Adam or Eve
or any origin story.

My place is placeless,
a trace of the traceless.

Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved,
have seen the two worlds as one
and that one call to and know,
first, last, outer, inner,
only that breath breathing human being.

May he rest in peace near his beloved.