Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (1207–1273) was a Persian poet, Sufi mystic, philosopher, and Islamic scholar. He wrote over 65,000 verses on love, life, and spiritual understanding, and his poems still sell millions of copies around the world. Rumi’s work fundamentally shifted the development and perception of Islam through his articulation of the importance of having a spiritual relationship with God and his emphasis on Islam being a “religion of love.”