Rumi, Molana, Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Balkhy (1207-1273), was born in or near the city of Balkh, in present-day Afghanistan. Widely considered the greatest poet of the Persian language, Rumi's major works are the Masnavi, a six-volume collection of mystical teachings, and the Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi, a collection of lyric poetry. He died and was buried in Konya, Turkey.

Haleh Liza Gafori is a NYC-born translator, performance artist, writer, musician, and educator of Iranian descent. Her most recent book of translations of poetry by the 13th century mystic and sage Rumi entitled Water was released in April of 2025 by New York Review Books, a follow-up to her acclaimed first volume, Gold, released in 2022, also by NYRB Classics. Since then, Gold has been incorporated in the curricula of universities across the country.A 2024 MacDowell fellow and a recipient of a grant from NYSCA, Gafori has created a musical and cross-media performance based on the books and has presented her work via performances, lectures, and workshops, at institutions such as Stanford University, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Academy of American Poets, Sarah Lawrence College, Lincoln Center and elsewhere. Gafori's writings have been published by Columbia University Press, Paris Review, Harvard Review, Literary Hub, and others.