# 1998 VHS • Rumi Poet of the Heart 60 FPS

Rumi: Poet of the Heart is a documentary on the life, poetry, and spiritual legacy of 13th-century Persian Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi, presented through commentary from scholars, poets, and translators including Coleman Barks, Robert Bly, and others. The film traces Rumi's biography from his birth in Afghanistan in 1207, his family's flight from the armies of Genghis Khan, and settlement in Konya, Turkey, through his transformative encounter with the wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz, the grief of Shams's disappearance, and the outpouring of poetry that became the foundation of the whirling dervish tradition. The second half explores the challenges of translating Rumi's Persian into English, including the distinction between literal translation and versioning, and the contributions of Barks and others in making Rumi the best-selling poet in America. Commentary covers the Sufi practice of sama, the cosmological and mystical dimensions of the whirling ceremony, and Rumi's relevance to contemporary readers across religious boundaries. The film includes readings of Rumi's poems throughout.

- Kind: Film
- Year: 1998
- By: The Vista Group®
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/TheVistaGroup-RumiPoetoftheHeart1998)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/TheVistaGroup-RumiPoetoftheHeart1998?play=1)