Rumi was a 13th-century Persian Muslim poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic. Maryam Mafi was born and raised in Iran. She graduated from Tufts University in 1981, where she studied Sociology and Literature. While reading for her Master's degree in International Communications at American and Georgetown Universities she began translating Persian literature and has been doing so ever since. Reading Rumi's poetry, she says, has led her to a 're-education' in her own language and a new appreciation of her spiritual heritage. Melita Kolin is a poet, musician and an artist based in Hampstead.