Abbasid. The third of the Islamic caliphates to succeed the Prophet Mohammad, the Abbasids ruled mostly from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq after assuming authority from the Umayyads in the eighth century.
akhavan. A sodality of craftsmen, laborers, and merchants, similar to early guilds, with overtones of chivalry and brotherhood.
Ayyubid. A Muslim dynasty founded by Saladin and centered in Egypt with sultans often vying for power in Syria and other parts of the Middle East.
Baba. Religious figures, often accompanying Turkmen immigrating to Anatolia from Central Asia.
caliph. A term meaning “deputy” or “successor” of the Prophet Mohammad after his death, applied to the governing religious leader of Muslims.
caravanserai. A roadside inn, also known as a han.
chelle. Sufi initiatory practice of an extended period of isolation from the world.
dervish. The Turkish version of a Persian word for those who renounced the world, or for the poor in God; commonly used for Sufis.
divan. A collection of poems.
fatwa. A ruling of a religious scholar on questions of Islamic jurisprudence.
fotovvat. A widespread brotherhood within Islam, which included some caliphs as members, and combined chivalric morals and a set of ethics with Sufi mysticism as well as a touch of militant power.
ghazal. Lyrical, rhymed poems, often on romantic themes, sometimes including radif, or repeated words or phrases at the end of each line, and not usually exceeding sixteen lines.
hadith. Recorded sayings or teachings of the Prophet Mohammad.
hajj. The annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, incumbent on able Muslims at least once in a lifetime.
harem. Separate quarters for women and young children in a traditional Muslim household.
hazl. Bawdy Persian poems featuring course satire and vulgar language.
jinn. Invisible, mischievous spirits, or genies.
Kaaba. The most sacred shrine in Islam, located in the courtyard of the Great Mosque at Mecca, and believed to have been built by the patriarch Abraham.
khaneqah. A Sufi lodge.
Khorasan. The eastern region of the former Persian Empire, including much of modern-day eastern Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.
lale. A tutor for children.
madrase. An upper-level school or college.
maktab. Elementary school.
malamatiyya. Followers of the “path of blame,” who purposely disguised their piety in unorthodox clothing and behavior.
Mamluk. A military or warrior caste that rose from the ranks of slave soldiers to eventually control sultanates in Egypt and Syria in the thirteenth century.
masnavi. A long poem in rhyming couplets, often on spiritual themes; also the preferred form for narrative in classical Persian.
mihrab. A wall niche in mosques indicating the direction of the holy city of Mecca.
minbar. Pulpit in a mosque.
Mowlana. Rumi’s title, meaning “Our Master,” or “Our Teacher.” The term in Turkish is “Mevlana,” the basis of the name for the Mevlevi Order.
nay. A reed flute.
qasida. A longer ode, often of praise, but also written with elegiac, satirical, didactic, or religious content.
qadi. A local Muslim judge of religious law.
qibla. The direction of Mecca, which is the orientation for Muslim prayer.
rabab. A rebec, or small, stringed, upright instrument, sometimes bowed like a fiddle.
robai. A poem consisting of a four-line quatrain, often including short, pithy observations about life.
sama. Meditative sessions of listening to music and poetry, sometimes accompanied by a whirling dance.
Seljuks. Originally one of dozens of nomadic Turkic clans in Central Asia, the Seljuks enjoyed a two-century hold on power in the central Islamic lands—the Great Seljuks the “protector” of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad, and the Seljuks in Anataolia defeating the Byzantines to establish a Seljuk Sultanate.
Sharia. Religious law, differently interpreted in such Sunni schools of law as Hanafi, which was followed by Rumi’s family, Shafii, and Hanbali.
sheikh. In the Sufi tradition, a spiritual leader or guide.
Shia. The minority branch of Islam believing that the leadership of Islam should reside with the descendants of the family of the Prophet Mohammad, beginning with his cousin and son-in-law Ali. “Shia” literally means “Party of Ali.”
Sufism. The mystical branch of Islam, from the root word “suf,” or wool, perhaps for the woolen robes worn by early Sufi ascetics, rejecting wealth and worldliness.
Sunni. The majority branch of Islam, believing leadership of Islam was rightfully passed down through the Companions of the Prophet, following the “sunna” or example of the Prophet, rather than residing necessarily with the family and descendants.
takhallos. A signature, tag, or pen name, used by a poet, and usually reserved for the last line of a ghazal; also described as a “clasp,” holding together its strung pearls of single lines into a necklace.
Umayyad. The second of the Islamic caliphates to succeed the Prophet Mohammad, the Umayyad dynasty ruled mostly from Damascus, beginning in the seventh century until overturned by the Abbasid dynasty in the eighth century.