Classical Persian Poetry and Poets

Abstracts and Biographies of Speakers Keynote Address Denizens of the Realm of Gold: A Sojourn among some Immortal Mediæval Persian Poets (Sa‘di, Hafiz, Jami…)

Dr Husayn Ilahi Ghomshei In this lecture I will concentrate on the following four themes in Persian poetry of the period: (1) the Unity of Being; (2) the Ethics of Sufism; (3) anti-clericalism; and (4) beauty worship (jamal-parasti) and the religion of love (madhhab-e ishq). I will open the workshop with a general introduction on how these themes are applicable to each of the major poets of the period and show how the wines of their inspiration have been served up in different goblets, relished as savoury nibbles and exhibited in a lovely variety of seasons. I will largely focus on the best and most loved poems of Sa‘di, Hafiz and Jami so as to illustrate the progression of ideas in general, and the above four themes in particular, and thus prepare the way for the other contributors to the workshop to enter into more detailed discussions on individual poets or themes.

Dr Husayn Ilahi Ghomshei has been a household name in Iran since the early 1980s where, due to his wide-ranging literary versatility, phenomenal powers of memory and in-depth understanding of English, Persian and Arabic literature—in particular Islamic philosophy (falsafa, hikmat), theosophy (‘irfan), Sufism (tasawwuf) and Persian classical poetry—he is widely sought after as a speaker on literature, Islamic philosophy, Persian poetry and mysticism. He lectures regularly in Central Asia, India, Australia, Europe and North America. A former Director of the National Library of Iran (1981-82),