On 15 November 1244, a man in a black suit from head to toe came to the famous inn of Sugar Merchants of Konya. The specificities of how this transference occurred, however, are not yet known. The transference of the epithet to the biography of Rumi's mentor suggests that this Imam's biography must have been known to Shams-i TabrД«zД«'s biographers. This however, is not the occupation listed by Haji Bektash Veli in the MaqДЃlat and was rather the epithet given to the Ismaili Imam Shams al-din Muhammad, who worked as an embroiderer while living in anonymity in Tabriz. Despite his occupation as a weaver, Shams received the epithet of вЂњthe embroidererвЂќ ( zarduz) in various biographical accounts including that of the Persian historian Dawlatshah Samarqandi. Before meeting Rumi, he apparently traveled from place to place weaving baskets and selling girdles for a living. Shams received his education in Tabriz and was a disciple of Baba Kamal al-Din Jumdi. However, various scholars have questioned AflakiвЂ™s reliability. Apparently basing his calculations on Haji Bektash Veli's MaqДЃlДЃt ( Conversations), Aflaki suggests that Shams arrived in Konya at the age of sixty years.

In a work entitled ManДЃqib al-вЂarifД«n ( Eulogies of the Gnostics), Aflaki names a certain вЂAli as the father of Shams-i TabrД«zД« and his grandfather as Malikdad. Brooklyn Museum.ДЄccording to Sipah Salar, a devotee and intimate friend of Rumi who spent forty days with him, Shams was the son of the Imam Ala al-Din.

Shams tabrizi tomb