Now that Rumi has become one of the best-selling poets in North America, interest in his life and times has increased dramatically. Practically every collection of his poetry provides a thumbnail biography, highlighting his encounter with Shams-i Tabrizi, the wandering mystic who became Rumi's beloved companion. Rumi had been a sober scholar, teaching law and theology to a small circle of students, but the coming of Shams turned him into a devotee of music, dance, and poetry. Three years after Shams's appearance out of nowhere, he abruptly vanished, never to be seen again. It was Rumi's longing for the lost Shams that transformed him into one of the world's greatest poets. Rumi immortalized Shams's name by constantly celebrating him in his poetry as the embodiment of the divine beloved.

Very little is know about the historical Shams--indeed, some have even doubted that he was a real person. Everyone interested in Rumi's poetry has been curious about him, and beginning with Rumi's own son and other hagiographers, a great deal of legend was built up. Over the centuries, Shams became a trope of Persian,