Mystic, scholar and poet born in Balkh (1207); his family migrated to Anatolia and settled in Konya. His meeting with Shams of Tabriz transformed his life. His works, foremost the Mathnawi and the Divan-i Kabir, are summits of Sufi literature. He died in Konya in 1273 and is regarded as the patron of the Mevlevi tradition.