Poetry of Persia

Since Ayatollah Khomeini brought revolution to Iran in 1979, the country has become a byword for radical Islam. Western documentary teams are seldom given access, but Samira Ahmed has been given a rare opportunity to discover Iran's rich, colourful culture and extraordinary history.

Islamic mysticism, or sufism, has found its finest expression in the classical poetry of Persia, in particular during its most creative period up to the late 15th century. Focusing on the poems themselves rather than on their authors, this very readable introduction surveys the development of Persian mystical poetry, dealing first with the relation between Sufism and literature and then with the four main genres of the tradition: the epigram, the homiletic poem, love poetry, and symbolic narrative.