Rumi congress in northern Nicosia draws scholars from 12 countries
Near East University in Northern Cyprus hosted the 10th International Rumi Congress in northern Nicosia from December 3 to 5, bringing scholars from 12 countries to examine new readings of the Masnavi and the Divan-e Shams.
Academics from Iran, Turkey, Cyprus, Pakistan, India, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Uzbekistan gathered in the Turkish-run enclave to present recent work on Sufi literature and the wider field of Islamic mysticism, IRNA reported.
Qadir Golkaryan, head of the university’s Rumi Studies Centre and the congress’s executive secretary, said the secretariat had received 138 papers.
Only 43 were accepted for presentation over two days. He described the selection as “rigorous” and said the committee had been intent on keeping the program tight.
Golkaryan said several leading papers would appear in international journals indexed in Web of Science and Scopus.
He added that the full set of contributions would later be published in a four-language volume in Turkish, Persian, Russian and English.
The presence of Esin Celebi Bayru, a 22nd-generation descendant of Rumi, gave the gathering what organizers called an “intimate” link to the poet’s lineage, drawing long queues of visitors during the three-day event.
The Iranian traditional ensemble Ham Avaz, led by Hamid Khazaei, staged a Sufi music performance that filled the campus hall and kept visitors in their seats well past closing time.
Several attendees called the concert “unforgettable,” saying it rounded off the congress with a sense of communal warmth.