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A Persian Sufic poet and philosophic teacher; born at Balkh in Khorasan, Sept. 30, 1207; died Sept. 17, 1273. His great work is the "Masnawi" or "Mathnawi",- a collection of precepts and tales, interwoven with comments on the Koran and sayings of the Prophet, comprising between thirty and forty thousand rhymed couplets; composed in honor of the Maulawi sect of dervishes, of which he was the founder. A versified translation of the first book was published by J. W. Redhouse (1881). He wrote also many spiritual and mystic odes, full of inspiration. His teachings and doctrines are still faithfully adhered to by this order, and studied and revered by the whole Eastern world as the guide to eternal bliss.