Rumi and the Beloved

Sufi / Islamic mystical · 13th century CE; tradition ongoing

Rumi's poetry is organized around the relationship with the Beloved: the divine Other who is simultaneously the human beloved (Shams-i-Tabrizi), the divine, and the innermost Self. The Sufi path is the path of love: annihilation of the ego (fana) in union with the Beloved, followed by return to the world transformed (baqa).

Sufi poetry is the most sustained, beautiful, and psychologically precise exploration of Anima/Animus projection in world literature. The Beloved is simultaneously a person, a divine presence, and the Self. Rumi doesn't need to choose between these readings because in Sufi psychology, they're all true simultaneously. This is the transcendent function in poetic form.

The pattern underneath: The Anima / Animus. The qualities you've assigned to 'the other' rather than owning as part of yourself.