Shams of Tabriz: the master of Rumi

Shams, the sun of Love that burned Rumi's heart... Shams, the real treasure hunter... the exchanger of Love... Shams, the martyr of Love who sacrificed his head to Rumi... One day in 2002, I went to Konya to visit Rumi. I was just about to enter the door of the shrine when an old man with a white beard came in front of me and rejected my entry into the shrine and said, "No, don't you do this! You should first go and visit Shams and then come back here!"I went back, learned where the shrine of Shams of Tabriz was, and went there. I entered the mosque that I hadn't visited before, bashfully. I saw the tomb of Shams in front of me. I approached and said my prayer. The mosque official started to recite the Iqama for the obligatory afternoon prayer. The community formed a line. I was touched. All of a sudden, my inner heart said "Oh, the sultan of lovers, what have you turned Rumi into! I wish you were here today so that we could perform the prayer together, shoulder to shoulder."At that moment, someone sharp-eyed from the front rows called out to me inviting me with a fine, strong voice saying "Then, come here!" I went next to him and stood on his left side. My knees were trembling with excitement. He leaned his shoulder on mine and we started the prayer. Oh my God! His shoulder was like a fire. This fire burned my body during the prayer. In the last unit of the prayer, I said to myself "My God, let me hug him after the prayer, then take my life." When I turned to him after completing the prayer, I could not see him. I asked the man next to me "Where is he?" He answered, "He stood up quickly and disappeared." I almost fainted and could not pull myself together for a while. When I gathered myself, everyone had left and the mosque was empty. I stood up and went back to Rumi's shrine to complete my visit in peace. After my visit, I became happy when I realized how much Rumi is known and loved in our country and abroad. After that day, I promised myself to introduce Shams of Tabriz, who has contributed to Rumi becoming who he is, as much as I can; and in 2003, I published the first edition of this book. I am very happy that many books about Shams have been published today and that Shams has gotten the attention he deserves. I am proud to be one of the people to start this research.