Claim: Rumi's influence transcends city limits.

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī , also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī , Mevlânâ / Mawlānā -LRB- مولانا , `` our master '' -RRB- , Mevlevî / Mawlawī -LRB- مولوی , `` my master '' -RRB- , and more popularly simply as Rumi -LRB- 30 September 1207 -- 17 December 1273 -RRB- , was a 13th-century Persian Sunni Muslim poet , jurist , Islamic scholar , theologian , and Sufi mystic . Rumi 's influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions : Iranians , Tajiks , Turks , Greeks , Pashtuns , other Central Asian Muslims , and the Muslims of South Asia have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries . His poems have been widely translated into many of the world 's languages and transposed into various formats . Rumi has been described as the `` most popular poet '' and the `` best selling poet '' in the United States .   Rumi 's works are written mostly in Persian , but occasionally he also used Turkish , Arabic , and Greek , in his verse . His Masnavi -LRB- Mathnawi -RRB- , composed in Konya , is considered one of the greatest poems of the Persian language . His works are widely read today in their original language across Greater Iran and the Persian-speaking world . Translations of his works are very popular , most notably in Turkey , Azerbaijan , the United States , and South Asia . His poetry has influenced Persian literature , but also Turkish , Ottoman Turkish , Azerbaijani , as well as the literature of some other Turkic , Iranian , and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai , Urdu , Pashto , and Bengali .