Sleepers Awake! Rumi on the People of the Cave – Mohammed Rustom

Much to its peril, the contemporary field of Quranic studies seldom regards Sufis and philosophers as major theorists of the Quran. A case in point is the great Persian Sufi poet Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, whose poetry has always been seen in the pre-modern Islamic tradition as amounting to nothing short of a profoundly engaged and engaging tafsīr. This article will therefore outline one of the countless instances wherein Rūmī comments upon the Quran through his poetry, paying particular attention to the story of the People of the Cave (aṣḥāb al-kahf) recounted in q 18:9–26. Showing how the tale gives rise to Mawlānā’s penetrating exposition of the reality of sleep and wakefulness on the one hand, and the nature of the heart on the other, the paper will then segue into an exploration of a related theme in Rūmī’s writings, namely that of the “friend of the cave” (yār-i ghār), which alludes to another important Quranic pericope.

The title of this article, “Sleepers Awake!,” is a reference to the famous Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach (d. 1750) first performed nearly three hun- dred years ago in Leipzig, where Bach rests. This highly spiritual cantata is inspired by the famous Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids in Matthew 25:1–13, whose rich symbolism is related to the theme of awakening to the reality of the Presence of God.

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