Director: Can Ulkay
Uprooted by a Mongol invasion that pushes his family westward, a young man destined to become one of history's most influential poets begins a search for meaning that this Turkish period drama traces from exile to philosophy.
What is Mevlana Celaleddin I Rumi about?
The series follows the early life of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, opening with the Mongol advance that forces his family to abandon their homeland and travel toward the west. That displacement becomes the backdrop for a broader story about a young mind wrestling with loss, faith, and the search for purpose beyond material survival. Rather than presenting Rumi as already the sage he would become, the show builds toward his philosophy step by step, showing the encounters, teachers, and hardships that shape his thinking about self-knowledge. War and migration remain present throughout, giving the story a wide historical canvas, but the emotional center stays fixed on one person's internal journey. The production leans into the scale of that migration, depicting caravans, border towns, and shifting political powers, while keeping its focus on how a single family's displacement can plant the seeds of a philosophy that would outlast empires.
Cast & crew
Bülent İnal leads the cast, with Mehmet Ali Nuroğlu, Ahu Türkpençe, and Nilay Deniz filling out major roles across the historical timeline the story spans. Kaan Yıldırım, Devrim Özkan, İlker Aksum, and Turgay Aydın round out an ensemble large enough to carry a narrative that moves across multiple cities and years without losing track of its central family.
Context & significance
Directed by Can Ulkay, the series arrived in 2023 and holds a 7.8 rating on IMDb, reflecting a positive response to its ambitious blend of war drama and philosophical biography. Episodes run about 80 minutes, giving the production room for the kind of large-scale historical sequences that a shorter format would struggle to accommodate. It sits within a tradition of Turkish television revisiting formative historical and literary figures with high production values rather than a strictly educational tone.
Where & how to watch
The series is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles, so the historical detail and dialogue come through clearly for Farsi-speaking viewers. This page is free to browse regardless of account status, and streaming the episodes only requires logging into K-Time, a service designed around Farsi menus and search for its diaspora audience.