Several Rumi Poems are provided by On Being – hosted by Krista Tippett on National Public Radio. Don’t miss the 2010 program on the Ecstatic Faith of Rumi on the same program. Listen.

Whirling Dervishes  The whirling dance or Sufi whirling that is proverbially associated with Dervishes, is the practice of the Mevlevi Order in Turkey, and is part of a formal ceremony known as the Sema. The Sema is only one of the many Sufi ceremonies performed to try to reach religious ecstasy (majdhb, fana). The name Mevlevi comes from the Persian poet, Rumi (born in Balkh, modern day Afghanistan), whose shrine is in Turkey and who was a Dervish himself. This practice, though not intended as entertainment, has become a tourist attraction in Turkey.  Wikepedia