Welcome to the next edition of the
Fiction Predictions series. Today we go back 800 years to 13th-century Persia and visit the poet and philosopher known to us as Rumi. We will look at his "Poem of the Atoms" (or Zarrah in Persian) that reads uncannily like a description of subatomic particle spin, orbital mechanics, and quantum entanglement. [1]
Rumi's Creative Process
In our imaginations, we might see Rumi bent over an ancient scrolltop desk, studying Greek philosophers and their notions of 'atomism'. Or maybe we envision him holed up in a candle-lit garret, learning Sufi mysticism teachings. But Rumi didn't tap his creative genius in such an academic way. Instead, danced.
In a state of ecstasy, Rumi whirled about, Dervish-style, channelling his creative works seemingly out of 'thin air'. If it weren't for his disciple, his 'recorder' as he would be called in my
stories of Ash, all his beautiful and enlightening words would never have reached our ears.
Fortunately for us, chasing closely behind him was his scribe. He eagerly recorded every word Rumi uttered, scratching away with his reed pen, filling sheet after sheet of handmade rag paper before it was too late. Before the words were gone.
This was the raw, chaotic creative process of Jalal al-Din Rumi and his constant companion, Husam al-Din Chalabi.
In this way, Rumi gave us depth and understanding that science would verify 800 years later.
Rumi and Quantum Physics
Long before the birth of quantum mechanics, Rumi described a universe made of tiny, ecstatic, perpetually spinning building blocks (zarrah in Persian, meaning the smallest indivisible speck) that was then translated into the ancient Greek word for Atom (in the 5th-century BCE, the Greeks theorised that the universe was made of indivisible units ("atoms") moving through a void (universe).
But Rumi experienced these atoms in ways that might be hard for us to believe. We have to ask, did this ancient Sufi master somehow tap into the subatomic secrets of the cosmos long before our instruments could identify them?
Rumi's Atomic Universe of Love
From his famous Poem of Atoms, we find:
"O day, arise! Shine your light, the atoms are dancing.
Thanks to Him the universe is dancing,
Overcome with ecstasy, free from body and mind.
I'll whisper in your ear where their dance is leading them.
All the atoms in the air and in the desert are dancing,
Puzzled and bemused to the ray of light, they seem insane.
Every single atom, happy or miserable,
Becomes enamoured of the Sun, of which nothing can be said." [1, 2, 3]
Rumi's Atoms vs. Modern Physics
| Rumi's Mystic Verse (13th Century) |
The Parallel in Modern Physics (20th–21st Century) |
| "O day, arise! Shine your light, the atoms are dancing... Overcome with ecstasy..." |
Quantum Wave-Particle Fluctuations: Subatomic particles are never still; the quantum vacuum is a constant "dance" of fluctuating energy. |
| "Every single atom... Becomes enamoured of the Sun..." |
Fractal Orbital Mechanics: The fundamental design of matter involves objects orbiting a central nucleus, a central star, or a galactic core. |
| "Behind every atom of this world hides an infinite universe." |
Subatomic Complexity: A single proton contains a practically infinite landscape of quarks and gluons bound by immense nuclear forces. |
Was Rumi a Seer of the Future?
How do we evaluate a 13th-century poet who spoke of the universe as if reading from a quantum physics textbook? Did he look through time and grasp the truth of subatomic matter?
Again how?
There were no particle accelerators back then, or mathematical equations to prove the nature of quantum reality. But he was educated in Islamic philosophy, which had preserved the ancient Greek concept of the zarrah—the smallest, indivisible unit of matter.
Where Rumi Begged to Differ
Western science later treated the atom as cold, dead, mechanical building blocks of the universe, Rumi’s Sufi mysticism saw the entire cosmos as a living manifestation of divine love (Ishq). And, to Rumi, love required a dance and an orbital centre to spin around. Through living this dance, he tapped into a universal truth: that the same laws governing the human soul must govern the physical world as well.
Modern quantum physics eventually built the tools to prove that the universe is as dynamic, vibrating, and deeply interconnected as Rumi said it was eight hundred years ago. Perhaps he wasn’t a seer of this scientific data but more a manifestation of cosmic harmony, proving that sometimes, the heart will map the universe long before the mind can verify it.
What do you think?
***
Kim Falconer, also writing as AK Wilder, has released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows as book 2 in the series.
Kim can be found on AKWilder.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and KimFalconer.com. Throw the bones on the AKWilder.com site. See you there!
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“There is no doubt fiction makes a better job of the truth.”
