Episode 12: Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse

Imam Fakhruddin Owaisi and Adnan Adrian Wood Smith join us to discuss of the Poetry of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (d. 1975). Probably the most popular and influential African poet of the 20th century in any language, Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse was born in 1900, Tayba in Senegal, a town founded by his father, the Sufi master and scholar Abdoulaye Niasse. The young Ibrahim Niasse was something of a prodigy, quickly mastering all of the Islamic disciplines his father taught him, including classical Arabic poetry. Niasse excelled in writing poetry praising the Prophet Muḥammad (madīḥ nabawī), and as Niasse became recognized as […]

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Episode 11: Bedil

Professor Hajnalka Kovacs and Ahmad Rashid Salim join us to discuss the poetry of Bedil Dihlavī (d. 1720), one of the greatest and most influential Persian-language poets of the Indian subcontinent. He wrote over 2,800 ghazals, four mathanwis (a genre of narrative verse in rhymed couplets), and other poetic texts, all of which circulated throughout the Indian Subcontinent, Central Asia, and the Safavid and Ottoman Empires. Known for its complex and ambiguous style, creative metaphors and images, and adaptations of Sanskrit and Hindu themes and figures, Bedil’s poetry is highly philosophical, brilliantly translating and thinking through the issues of Ibn […]

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Episode 10: Misri, Bursavi, and Ottoman Sufi Poetry

Professors Nurullah Koltaş and Vitoria Holbrook join us to discuss the poetry of Niyazi Misri (d. 1694) and Ismā’īl Ḥaqqī Bursawī (d. 1725), two of the greatest Sufi poets of Ottoman Turkish. Highly-esteemed scholars, authors, and Sufi masters of the Halveti order during their lives, their poetry is still sung today in Turkish tekyes, or Sufi lodges, forming the basis of many popular ilâhis. Their poetry is characterized by a marriage of Akbari metaphysics, Persian ghazal symbolism, and the directness and profundity of the earlier Turkish Ashki tradition. One of Niyazi’s poems even alludes to the title of this podcast: […]

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Episode 9: Hafez

Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr joins us to discuss the poetry of Shams al-dīn Muḥammad Shirāzī (1325-1390), better known by his pen-name, Hafez. Widely considered the greatest master of the Persian ghazal, his poetry was acclaimed even during his lifetime, winning him fame as far as Bengal. His Divān, or collection of poetry, is one of the most beloved, studied, and commented upon works of literature in Islamic history, even influencing non-Muslim poets like Goethe and Tagore. Enjoying the patronage of the various rulers of Shiraz during this tumultuous period of its history, Hafez was known for the exceptional musicality and […]

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Episode 8: Ibn al-'Arabī

Professors Michael Sells and Hany Ibrahim explore the poetry of Muḥyī ad-Dīn Ibn al-‘Arabī (1165-1240), the Andalusian scholar, mystic, poet, and author known as the Shaykh al-Akbar, “The Greatest Master.” One of the most influential Islamic thinkers and spiritual figures of all time, Ibn al-‘Arabi is best known for his voluminous Futuḥāt al-Makkiya, The Meccan Openings, once called “the greatest spiritual encyclopedia ever written by a single author,” and his highly influential and shorter philosophical-mystical work, al-Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, The Ringstones of Wisdom; both works are filled with his unique style of spiritually didactic poetry. But Ibn al-‘Arabi was also a […]

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Episode 7: Amir Khusraw

Professors Prashant Keshavmurthy and Shankar Nair explore the brilliant and multilingual poetry of Amir Khusraw (651-725 /1253–1325), one of the most celebrated and influential South Asian poets, known as Tuti-i Hindi, “The Parrot of India”. A court poet and an devoted disciple of the great Sufi saint, Nizam al-din Awliya’ (next to whom he is buried in Delhi), Khusraw is known for his mastery of multiple genres, flowing style and īhām (double or more-entendres), his musical ability (he is sometimes called “the father of qawwali”), and remarkable creativity. His poetry is still popularly sung today in South Asia and South […]

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Episode 6: 'Attar

Professors Nicholas Boylston and Cyrus Zargar explore the striking  poetry of ‘Attar of Nishapur, an seminal Persian Sufi poet and master of the Persian Masnavi (epic in rhymed-couplets) genre. His Conference of the Birds is a masterpiece of Sufi literature, and it and ‘Attar’s other poetic works, including his ghazals, exerted a strong influence on later Sufi poets, especially Rumi. Links and Further Reading/Listening: “Attar’s “Conference of the Birds” – The Greatest Sufi Masterpiece?” Let’s Talk Religion . Dick Davis and Afkham Darbandi  , The Conference of the Birds (London: Penguin Classics, 1984) . Zargar, Cyrus, Religion of Love: Sufism […]

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Episode 5: Sa'di

Professors Fatemeh Keshavarz and Cyrus Zargar explore the poetry of Sa‘di, the traveling poet of 7th/13th-century Shiraz known for his fluid and natural style, wit, and wisdom. His Bustan and Gulistan are considered masterpieces of Persian composition and were widely-studied from the Balkans to Bengal, influencing later Persian as well as European authors. Links and Further Reading/Listening: Thackston, W.M. The Gulistan (Rose Garden) is Sa’di: A Bilingual English and Persian Edition (Bethesda, MD: Ibex Publishers, 2008). . Keshavarz, Fatemeh. Lyrics of Life: Sa’di on Love, Cosmopolitanism and Care of the Self  (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014). . Zargar, Cyrus, The […]

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Episode 4: Ibn al-Farid

. Professors James Morris and Arjun Nair discuss the poetry of the “Sultan of Lovers,” ‘Umar ibn al-Farid, the 7th/13th-century Egyptian poet whose qasidas (odes) are widely considered to be among the best ever composed in the Arabic language. . Links and Further Reading/Listening: Ibn al-Farid – The Sufi Poet of Love & Oneness, Let’s Talk Religion . T. Emil Homerin, ʻUmar Ibn Al-Fāriḍ: Sufi Verse, Saintly Life (New York: Paulist Press, 2001). . ——, Passion Before me, My Fate Behind: Ibn al-Fāriḍ and the Poetry of Recollection, (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2011). . ——, “ […]

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Episode 3: Sana'i

Professors Nicholas Boylston and Parisa Zahiremami discuss the poetry and legacy of Hakim Sana’i, the seminal Persian Sufi and court poet of the 11th-12th century. His magnum opus, Hadiqat al-Haqiqa (The Garden of Reality), had a tremendous influence on Persian poets and literature after him. Further Reading: Parisa Zahiremami, “Sanāʾi’s Hadiqat al-haqiqeh: Between Narrative and Non-narrative.” Iranian Studies 54, no. 3-4 (2021): 485-519. . ——, “Cosmopolitanism, Poetry, and Kingship: The Ideal Ruler in Sanāʾī’s (d. 1131 or 1135 CE) Poetry.” PhD diss., University of Toronto, 2022.\ . Boylston, Nicholas, “Writing the Kaleidoscope of Reality: The Significance of Diversity in the […]

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