Classical Persian Literature

Classical Persian Literature

Rumi in the Mirror of Poetry and the Five-Stage Grieving Process of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Mohammad Khodadadi 1
Hossein Joudavi 2
1 Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran
2 Ph.D., Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
10.30465/cpl.2026.52827.3398
Abstract
This study aims to explore the alignment of the five stages of grief proposed by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) with Rumi’s poetry mourning the loss of Shams Tabrizi, thereby highlighting the capacity of Eastern mystical culture to redefine the grieving process. Using a qualitative content analysis method and an interdisciplinary approach (literature-psychology), the data were analyzed through continuous comparative techniques, drawing on reliable sources from the history of mysticism and psychology of grief. In Kübler-Ross’s model, denial is a defensive reaction to reduce emotional shock. Rumi elevates this stage to an ontological inquiry. Anger in Kübler-Ross’s model is a reaction against the injustice of loss. Rumi’s anger is revelatory, as it tears away the veils of ignorance about the nature of death. Bargaining in Kübler-Ross’s model represents a desperate attempt to regain control. The failure of bargaining paves the way for discovering Shams’s inner presence rather than his physical return. Depression in Kübler-Ross’s model is a response to the irreparability of loss. Unlike the Western model, which views depression as a "transitory stage," in mysticism, this state serves as a bridge to illumination. Rumi elevates Kübler-Ross’s model from a psychological framework to a journey of mystical transformation.
Keywords: Psychology, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Grief, Rumi, Shams.
Introduction
"Grief is a set of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that stir within an individual when they face a loss or the threat of loss" (Didaran, 2009: 21). Grief is the natural response of the mind and body to an irreparable loss. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross provided a framework for understanding the emotional processes of grief by proposing a five-stage model of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Although recent research emphasizes that the temporal boundaries between grief stages are not clear or precise and do not necessarily occur in sequence (ibid.: 54), this model remains a cornerstone in grief studies.
The loss of Shams Tabrizi (his disappearance or sudden death in 645 AH) was a turning point in the life of Jalal al-Din Rumi. Shams was not only Rumi's mystical guide but also considered the "sun of his existence." This loss plunged Rumi into an abyss of grief, and many of his poems reflect this complex emotional-mystical process. The main issue of this research is that the mere application of Western grief models, without attention to the cultural-literary capacities of the East, does not provide a comprehensive understanding of the transformative processes of grief.

Materials & Methods
This research is descriptive-analytical with an interdisciplinary approach (literature-psychology). The main method employed is qualitative content analysis using thematic analysis. The present study is fundamental-theoretical and qualitative, designed to analyze the application of a psychological model to a literary text and extract culture-bound concepts. Data was collected through a library method and document study.
Discussion & result
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926-2004), the pioneering Swiss-American psychiatrist, revolutionized the foundations of modern psychology with her groundbreaking research on death and the grieving process. "It is best to think of the five reactions Kübler-Ross observed not as stages, but as coping strategies that everyone shows when faced with death" (Berk, 2006: 402):
Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance .
The denial stage in Kübler-Ross's five-stage grief model is a defensive reaction against an unacceptable loss, characterized by refusal of reality, doubt about the accuracy of the news, and attempts to deny the death/loss. "Denial is only a temporary defense mechanism that soon gives way to partial acceptance" (Kübler-Ross, 2009: 49). "For some time after Shams's disappearance, Rumi believed, or at least spoke and behaved as if, Shams were still alive. However, he eventually realized that Shams was dead" (Franklin, 2011: 260).
Then, "denial gives way to anger, rage, envy, and resentment" (Kübler-Ross, 2009: 59). The deep-rooted anger stemming from the loss of Shams Tabrizi, in these poems, transcends the boundaries of individual emotion and becomes a fundamental question about the structure of existence. What may at first glance appear to be an emotional protest is, in fact, a philosophical statement against the existential disorder of death in the cosmos. Rumi "remained for a while between hope and despair in waiting, but when he found his wait futile, he burst into lamentation and clamor" (Zarrinkoob, 2005: 161).
In the midst of the complex grieving process, the bargaining stage is a scene where the wounded mind, in a desperate move, negotiates with existence in hopes of finding a way to escape the definitive acceptance of loss. A ghazal by Rumi, with its obsessive repetition of the command "Arise!" falling like repeated blows against the wall of silence and absence, presents an exceptional example of this psychological mechanism in a mystical context. This bargaining, which in Kübler-Ross's model usually occurs internally and privately, transforms in Rumi's worldview into a cosmic project that summons the entire system of existence to the negotiation table.
The depression stage in Kübler-Ross's model is characterized by a deep understanding of the irreparability of loss and the collapse of one's world of meaning. For the depressed individual, time becomes a closed loop in which the past (the loss) dominates the present. "Rumi could not bear the blow so easily and felt that with this absence, half of his being had been separated from him, melted away, and vanished" (Zarrinkoob, 2005: 159).
The verse "Shams Tabrizi departed, and where is anyone / To weep for that Pride of Mankind?" represents a manifestation of the acceptance stage in Rumi's poetry. "It should not be thought that the acceptance stage is a happy stage. This stage is devoid of all feeling. It is as if the pain is gone, as if the struggle is finally over" (Kübler-Ross, 2009: 118). The simple past tense verb "departed" (barft), with its unadorned directness, marks the end of the search and denial. The absence of transcendental metaphors (unlike poems from the denial stage) indicates a direct confrontation with reality.
Conclusion
Rumi's poetry mourning Shams Tabrizi not only reflects Kübler-Ross's five-stage grief process but also, through artistic recreation, elevates its psychological framework to a literary-mystical realm. This research shows that the emotional reactions described in Kübler-Ross's model (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) are manifested in the Divan-e Shams through vivid metaphors and multi-layered imagery.
Keywords
Psychology
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Grief
Rumi
Shams
Subjects
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Classical Persian Literature
Volume 17, Issue 1 - Serial Number 42
Spring & Summer
August 2026

  • Receive Date 07 September 2025
  • Revise Date 08 December 2025
  • Accept Date 13 December 2025
  • Publish Date 23 July 2026