Rumi, in full Jalal al-Din Rumi, also called by the honorific Mawlana, (born c. September 30, 1207, Balkh [now in Afghanistan]--died December 17, 1273, Konya [now in Turkey]) was the greatest Sufi mystic and poet in she Persian language, famous for his lyrics and for his didactic epic Masnavi-yi Manavi ("Spiritual Couplets"), which widely influenced mystical thought and literature throughout the Muslim world, and, by now, the western world.