Returning to the Freight tonight, this special program celebrates the 13th Century Persian poet Jelaluddin Rumi through spoken word, music, and dance. Born in 1207 in the city of Balkh in what is now Afghanistan, Rumi was a brilliant spiritual master and founder of an order of Sufi mystics, as well as being one of the world's greatest poets, composing over 70 thousand verses in his lifetime on themes of divine love, mystical passion, and ecstatic illumination. Although he has had a profound historical influence on aesthetic expression in the world of Islam, Rumi only became widely known in the West over the past decade, as people discovered the great resonance of his poetry, with its expressions of the universal longing for beauty, connection, and joy. Tonight, join Dan and Dale Zola as they lead a multi-faceted exploration of this great mystic, bringing alive the passion, drama, and humor of his poetry through imaginative performance that weaves together spoken word and beautiful music.