Jami

Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami

The son of Mowlana Nezam o-Din, Ahmad was born in Jam, a small town in Khorasan, in 1414. His nickname is Jami, which means “cup of wine” in Persian and Nur ad-Din means “Light of faith”. As a child, he learned Persian and Arabic from his father. He attended a school in Herat (present-day Afghanistan) and then a school in Samarkand, where he studied with Ghazi-zadeh Ruhm, one of the greatest scholars of the time. Jami returned to Herat to study mathematics and philosophy. Hakim Jami then joined Saaduddin, the leader of the Naqshbandis and became his disciple. It is said that when Saaduddin met other dervishes in the Jomeh mosque in Herat, every time Jami passed by the mosque, Saaduddin would tell him: “I am fascinated by this man, he is really worthy. I don’t know how to attract him to be my disciple.” Jami was known for his sense of humor. He paid special attention to Saadi and Hafez in poetry and followed Nezami in his masnavi. In 1472, Jami began his pilgrimage to Mecca, as every Muslim who can afford it is supposed to do once in their lifetime. One of Jami’s commendable characteristics is that he had conviction in what he said and wrote. Jami said: “There are many seekers, but mostly seekers of self-improvement. There are very few seekers of the real truth.”

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