Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), which means Our Master, is one of the Islamic world's greatest poets. He is usually known in the English-speaking world simply as Rumi. He is a Sufi mystic, philosopher and lover of humanity. His followers began a school of mysticism to encourage and celebrate his teachings—the Sufi branch known to many Westerners as the 'Whirling Dervishes', but whose proper name is the Mevlevi order.