One of the instruments that constantly comes in Rumi poetry is Rubab. In Rumi's time, Rubab was one of the main instruments that was played in Khanqah (the Sufi lodges). Up to the present time, Rubab remains an influential instrument in Khanqahs, and other Sufi gatherings in Afghanistan. He probably liked Rubab because of its rhythmic sounds. It produces the sound of ecstasy, it echoes, it bounces, and rebounds, and one can imagine how it would have sounded in a sufi lodge with a high ceiling, and how the sounds and melodies reverberated through the souls of Sufis. Here what Rumi says about the sounds of Rubab: "Do you know what the voice of the rabab is saying? Come follow in my steps and find the way; ...
sporadic thoughts and reflections of an anthropology phd student