Rumi, Molana, Jalāl ad-Dīn 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, and educator of Iranian descent. A 2024 MacDowell fellow, she has translated the poetry of the 13th century mystic and sage Rumi from the original Persian. Her first volume of translations entitled Gold: Poems by Rumi was published by New York Review Books (NYRB) in 2022. Her second volume, Water, also in the NYRB Classics series, will be released in April 2025. Supported by an NYSCA grant, Gafori has created a musical and cross-media performance based on the book and has presented her work via performances, lectures, and workshops, at institutions such as Lincoln Center, Stanford University, the Academy of American Poets, Sarah Lawrence College, and Bradford Literary Fest. Gold has been incorporated in the curricula of universities across the country.