Jalâluddîn Rumi was born in 1207 in Balkh Persia in what is today Afghanistan. His father Bahauddin was a famous religious teacher and mystic who received a position at the university in Balkh. When Mongols invaded Persia, Rumi left Persia for Konya, which was then under the Persian empire. By the time he made it to Konya his mother had died, and he was married with one child, a son.