After Rumi

The Mevlevis and Their World

Jamal J. Elias

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Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Harvard University Press
14 October 2025

Middle Eastern history; Early modern history: c 1450 to c 1700; Sufism & Islamic mysticism

A preeminent scholar of Islamic history chronicles the rise of the Mevlevis, the influential Sufi community founded by Rumi.

The thirteenth-century Persian poet and scholar Rumi is revered to this day. However, less attention has been paid to the Sufi community he founded: the Mevlevis, sometimes called the ""Whirling Dervishes."" Centered on the descendants of Rumi and the disciples of his thought, the Mevlevis flourished in Anatolia during a period of extraordinary political, religious, and linguistic change. By the seventeenth century, they had become the recognizable bearers of Rumi's tradition across the Ottoman world.

Jamal J. Elias argues that the Mevlevis are best understood as a community rooted in kinship and emotional affinity, anchored by multiple generations of partnership between Rumi's descendants, known as Chelebis, and scholars devoted to his works. These collaborations shaped the religious, artistic, and social priorities of the Mevlevis, while also establishing the status of both Rumi and the Persian language in Ottoman society. As Turkish became the dominant literary and administrative language in the Ottoman world, Persian literacy faltered despite continued reverence for canonical Persian texts. Over time, the Mevlevis became the most important authorities on Rumi's works-especially his multivolume epic poem called the Masnavi, which gradually assumed a significant quasi-scriptural status.

A revelatory account of religious formation, After Rumi illuminates the affective dimensions of spiritual life and the dynamics of cultural exchange in the premodern eastern Mediterranean.

By: Jamal J. Elias
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 19mm
Weight: 577g
ISBN: 9780674296145
ISBN 10: 0674296141
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 14 October 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Jamal J. Elias is Walter H. Annenberg Professor of the Humanities and Professor of Islamic History and Visual Culture at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Alef Is for Allah, Aisha’s Cushion, On Wings of Diesel, and The Throne Carrier of God.

Reviews for After Rumi: The Mevlevis and Their World

A singular achievement. In After Rumi, Elias argues convincingly that the Mevlevis are best understood as an 'emotional community' anchored by veneration of Rumi and his writing. It is a work of impeccable scholarship, making key contributions to the study of Islam in general and Sufism in particular. As the only major book since the mid-twentieth century to focus on one of the most consequential Ottoman Sufi networks, After Rumi definitively puts the Mevlevis back on the scholarly agenda. -- Ahmet T. Karamustafa, author of Sufism: The Formative Period Remarkably lucid and erudite, After Rumi is an exemplary model for how to write the history of Sufi groups. Deftly exploring the relationship between literature, sociopolitical dynamics, and religious authority, it is a pivotal contribution to scholarship in Sufi, Ottoman, and Islamic studies. -- Shahzad Bashir, author of Sufi Bodies: Religion and Society in Medieval Islam A vivid account of how the Mevlevi community shaped the social, religious, and linguistic landscapes of Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire. Exploring the lineage of spiritual and cultural transmission, Elias's fresh and nuanced interpretations show how the Mevlevis became a central—though often overlooked—part of Rumi's legacy. -- Haleh Liza Gafori, editor and translator of Gold: Poems by Rumi