THE SARCOPHAGUS OF MEVLANA

The entire city of Konya mourned when on Sunday December 17 1273, as the sun set, the news came of the death of Mevlana, the great thinker and mystic who was beloved by everyone. The following day with a great ceremony, his body was taken to the sultan's garden outside Konya Castle, and buried at the side of his father.

A few months after Mevlana's death, his son Sultan Veled with the help of some friends decided to construct a tomb over his father's grave. Construction of the tomb began with a budget of ninety two thousand drams. The architect was Tebrizli Bedreddin, a fine artist and a friend of Mevlana's. The tomb was built in the shape of a dome of sixteen sections resting on four columns, and decorated on the outside with tiles and on the inside with painted designs. While the tomb was under construction an artist called Abdulvahid was designing a wooden sarcophagus to go over Mevlana's grave. It had to be such a sarcophagus that the like had not been seen in the world before. The love and respect felt by Abdulvahid for Mevlana enhanced his skill to produce a work of unequalled beauty. The sarcophagus was to be made of burned walnut wood decorated with Seljuk designs and odes from the Divan (collection of poetry) of Mevlana. At the head and foot would be written Mevlana's name. The design was complete; all that remained was to have it constructed. Then a master carpenter called Genekoglu Humameddin Muhammed came and said that he would do it and his offer was accepted.

A few months later the sarcophagus was complete. When all its parts were fitted together it was 2 m. 65 cm. long, 2 m. 13 cm, high and 1 m. 15cm. wide. No nails were used; each part had been cut so accurately that they fitted into each other perfectly. On the front was an inscription telling Mevlana's identity, at the end of which were written these lines: "Those who visit this place of rest are happy. Here lies Mevlana, the sultan of scholars in both east and west, who shines in the darkness, illuminates the nights, the light of God, a priest the son of a priest, beloved of those who decorate the people's gardens of the heart with true flowers,, who distinguishes right from wrong, the pivot of holy knowledge." At the back is written the date of his death and the name of the artist who designed the sarcophagus. On the sides are inscribed some odes written by Mevlana and 22 couplets from his Mesnevi. Here is what Mevlana calls out in these lines:

"When I die and you see my coffin carried on their shoulders, do not suppose that I carry the trouble of the world with me.

Do not cry for me, do not say 'what misfortune', or 'alas', the time to thus lament is when you fall into Satan's trap.

When you see my corpse do not bewail the separation, my meeting, my finding begins then. When they put me in the grave do not say farewell. The grave is the curtain before heaven's gate.

You have seen the sunset, so watch it rise. Setting does not harm the sun or moon.

To you it seems that they set, but in fact it is rebirth.

The grave seems like a prison, but in fact it releases the soul from prison.

What seed ever fell to the ground without growing. Why do you not believe that the seed of man will grow when it is sown.

What bucket was ever lowered into a well that did not come out full. Why should you weep when Joseph falls into the well.

If you closed your mouth on this side at death, open it on the other. Because you are far from the noise and bustle, you are in a space less world."

This is one of the odes written by Mevlana who considered death to be rebirth, and the day of his death to be the day he was united with God.

This high sarcophagus is a true masterpiece. No wooden work of art from the Seljuk period can parallel it. It is like a book with its Cufic, Sulus and Nesih inscriptions.

The sarcophagus covered Mevlana's grave for many years, until in the sixteenth century Sultan Suleyman the Law Giver had a marble sarcophagus made to cover the grave of Mevlana and that of his son Sultan Veled buried beside him. This was covered with gold worked cloths, and the wooden sarcophagus placed over the grave of Mevlana's father Bilginler Sultani Bahaeddin Veled. The height of this wooden sarcophagus gives it the appearance of having been stood up on end, giving rise to a story that when Mevlana's body was brought here for burial his father raised himself upright on account of the respect he felt for his son's wisdom and greatness. This is a legend which has been passed by word of mouth from generation to generation for hundreds of years. It is the Turkish appreciation of such an action, that his father should stand up out of respect for the greatness of his son, which keeps this legend alive.

Visitors to the Mevlana Museum in Konya look at the high sarcophagus in the Tomb section of the museum with admiration. Whether because of its artistic beauty or because it is that of Mevlana, from which ever point of view one looks at it, excitement will swell in your heart, and carried away by the sound of the flute flowing down from the domes you will find yourself in another world. Here is something other than death.

Mevlana speaks from a poem written on the sarcophagus: "When you take my soul, to die is as sweet as sugar. To be with you makes death sweeter than sweet life."

This, in short, is the story of Mevlana's carved wooden sarcophagus, a masterpiece made 700 years ago.