The First Selam A surrender emerging from the heart of darkness… In the first selam, the semazen bows not only to his sheikh, but also to the limits of his own ego. For the sema teaches one to bow before it teaches one to turn. In the teachings of Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî, the first selam symbolizes the moment when a human being first awakens to the truth; the instant when the soul recognizes its own fragility and falls silent before eternity. This bow is not an ending, but the beginning of the turning. Because every semazen knows: “Love first lowers the head; then sets the soul in motion.”