Rumi at Bedside - Poetic Theology - Spiritual Care Interpretations and Insights from 'Masnawi' and Islamic Spirituality
Kuaybe Noor, Chaplain, MAC, MAIRS, Wellspring Chaplaincy Initiative
In clinical spaces where suffering, uncertainty, and longing often converge, medical professionals and spiritual care providers are called to hold profound emotional and existential realities with compassion. As care teams navigate spiritual needs, cultural diversity, and meaning-making at the bedside, wisdom traditions and sacred poetry can deepen compassionate response.
This workshop explores how the spiritual teachings of the world-known Sufi Muslim mystic and poet Jalaluddin Rumi can inform and enrich bedside (spiritual) care across diverse healthcare settings. At the fragile edge of breath and longing -where bodies tire, and the spirit searches for meaning- Rumi sits beside us. His verses rise like prayer in the quiet of the hospital night, inviting us to listen not only with ears, but with the heart that aches to return to its ‘Beloved’.
Rumi’s Islamic mystical teachings invite chaplains and clinicians to witness illness as not only physical disruption but also spiritual unfolding. Rumi invites us to reframe&see illness and grief as portals to meaning, not solely pathology thorough his wise verses; “The wound is the place where the ‘Light’ enters you.” This session offers a bridge between theological insight and embodied clinical presence, illuminating the sacred dimensions of healing.
Drawing from Rumi’s masterpiece Masnawi -rooted in the Qur’anic worldview, Islamic Sufi tradition and core Islamic spiritual teachings and concepts such as Divine mercy (rahmah), surrender (tawakkul), hope, and the healing power of presence (hudūr)- participants will encounter poetic theology as a practical and heart-centered tool for meaning-making, resilience, and sacred connection.
In this workshop, we will trace Rumi’s footsteps as he meets the wounded soul with tenderness&awe and reminds us that illness&suffering is a womb for new knowing, and teaches us the art of presence as worship. We will explore Rumi’s metaphors of illness as transformation, grief as a doorway to Divine nearness, and the heart as a vessel for Divine love and healing. Through selected verses and guided reflection, story and silence we will explore how Islamic spirituality and Rumi’s mystical wisdom breathe sacredness and hope into suffering,
Emphasis will be placed on interfaith cultural humility and ethically integrating Islamic spiritual wisdom in interfaith clinical settings. Participants will leave with clinically applicable language, grounding practices, and a deeper capacity to honor the spiritual narratives of patients and families—Muslim and non-Muslim alike—through the universal language of poetry, presence, and compassion.
This workshop explores how the spiritual teachings of the world-known Sufi Muslim mystic and poet Jalaluddin Rumi can inform and enrich bedside (spiritual) care across diverse healthcare settings. At the fragile edge of breath and longing -where bodies tire, and the spirit searches for meaning- Rumi sits beside us. His verses rise like prayer in the quiet of the hospital night, inviting us to listen not only with ears, but with the heart that aches to return to its ‘Beloved’.
Rumi’s Islamic mystical teachings invite chaplains and clinicians to witness illness as not only physical disruption but also spiritual unfolding. Rumi invites us to reframe&see illness and grief as portals to meaning, not solely pathology thorough his wise verses; “The wound is the place where the ‘Light’ enters you.” This session offers a bridge between theological insight and embodied clinical presence, illuminating the sacred dimensions of healing.
Drawing from Rumi’s masterpiece Masnawi -rooted in the Qur’anic worldview, Islamic Sufi tradition and core Islamic spiritual teachings and concepts such as Divine mercy (rahmah), surrender (tawakkul), hope, and the healing power of presence (hudūr)- participants will encounter poetic theology as a practical and heart-centered tool for meaning-making, resilience, and sacred connection.
In this workshop, we will trace Rumi’s footsteps as he meets the wounded soul with tenderness&awe and reminds us that illness&suffering is a womb for new knowing, and teaches us the art of presence as worship. We will explore Rumi’s metaphors of illness as transformation, grief as a doorway to Divine nearness, and the heart as a vessel for Divine love and healing. Through selected verses and guided reflection, story and silence we will explore how Islamic spirituality and Rumi’s mystical wisdom breathe sacredness and hope into suffering,
Emphasis will be placed on interfaith cultural humility and ethically integrating Islamic spiritual wisdom in interfaith clinical settings. Participants will leave with clinically applicable language, grounding practices, and a deeper capacity to honor the spiritual narratives of patients and families—Muslim and non-Muslim alike—through the universal language of poetry, presence, and compassion.