Even in the shadows of the stage their white robes appear luminous. Now moving into the light, they twinkle like stars. Synchronising perfectly, they spin and turn, forming a glittering constellation.

A pin-drop silence hangs over the auditorium in Konya’s İrfa cultural centre, broken softly by a reed flute solo as lilting and melodious as a call to prayer. A dozen men file onto the stage in tall, ...

People perform the Sufi whirling dance in Konya, Türkiye, on Aug. 10, 2022.(Photo: Xinhua) ...

Rumi then regularly repeated this dance in front of his followers, reciting his verses and poems as he reached a rapturous state. So loved was Rumi that when he died in 1273, the people of Konya ...