Overview

I.B.Tauris in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation The romantic lyricism of the great Persian poet Hafiz (1315-1390) continues to be admired around the world. Recent exploration of that lyricism by Iranian scholars has revealed that, in addition to his masterful use of poetic devices, Hafiz's verse is deeply steeped in the philosophy and symbolism of Persian love mysticism. This innovative volume discusses the aesthetic theories and mystical philosophy of the classical Persian love-lyric (ghazal) as particularly exemplified by Hafiz (who, along with Rumi and Sa'di, is Persia's most celebrated poet). For the first time in western literature, Hafiz's rhetoric of romance is situated within the broader context of what scholars refer to as 'Love Theory' in Arabic and Persian poetry in particular and Islamic literature more generally. Contributors from both the West and Iran conduct a major investigation of the love lyrics of Hafiz and of what they signified to that high culture and civilization which was devoted to the School of Love in medieval Persia. The volume will have strong appeal to scholars of the Middle East, medieval Islamic literature, and the history and culture of Iran.

Full Product Details

Author:   Leonard Lewisohn
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   I.B. Tauris
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 3.30cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.680kg
ISBN:  

9781848853393

ISBN 10:   1848853394
Pages:   360
Publication Date:   30 May 2010
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Unknown
Availability:   In Print  
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors List of Abbreviations Foreword Hafiz of Shiraz Peter Avery (Cambridge University) I. Introduction: Hafiz in the Socio-historical and Literary Milieu of Medieval Persia Part 1: Hafiz in Shiraz Cite de l'amour Shiraz and the Galaxy of Fourteenth-century Persian Poetry The Hafizocentricism of Persianate Civilization and the Qur'an Hafiz's Life and Times Hafiz in the Courtly Milieu of Shiraz Part 2: Hafiz's Erotic Spirituality Hafiz and the Inspired Libertine (rind) The Rindan: Mafia of Medieval Persia Hafiz's Malamati Ethic and the Rite of Spiritual Vagabonds (qalandar?) The Inspired Libertine in Hafiz's Erotic Theology The Art of Erotic Contemplation (shahid-bazi) The Erotic Gaze: Contemplation of Human Beauty sub specie aeternitatis (nazar-bazi) Part 3: The Scope and Contents of the Volume Acknowledgements Leonard Lewisohn (University of Exeter) II. Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry The Principles of the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry Husayn Ilahi-Ghomshei (Former Director, National Library of Tehran) The Erotic Spirit: Love, Man and Satan in Hafiz's Poetry Ali Asghar Seyed-Ghorab (Leiden University, The Netherlands) The Radiance of Epiphany: the Vision of Beauty and Love in Hafiz's Poem of Pre-Eternity Leili Anvar (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris) III. Hafiz and the Persian Sufi Tradition Hafiz and the Sufi C.H. de Fouchecour (Professeur emerite de l'Universite de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris III) The Religion of Love and the Puritans of Islam: Sufi Sources of Hafiz's Anti-clericalism Leonard Lewisohn (University of Exeter) Jalal al-Din Davani's Interpretation of Hafiz Carl W. Ernst (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) IV. Hafiz's Romantic Imagery and Language of Love Transfiguring Love: Perspective Shifts and Contextualization of Experience in Hafiz's Ghazals James Morris (Boston College) Semiotics of the Dawn in the Poetry of Hafiz Franklin Lewis (University of Chicago) Hafiz and the Language of Love in Nineteenth-Century English and American Poetry Parvin Loloi (Independent Scholar, U.K.) List of Abbreviations Bibliography Index

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Author Information

Leonard Lewisohn is Lecturer in Persian and Sufi Literature at Exeter University. His previous books include The Art of Spiritual Flight: Farid al-Din 'Attar and the Persian Sufi Tradition (I.B.Tauris, 2006, edited with Christopher Shackle) and The Heritage of Sufism, vols 1-3 (1999).

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