Committee on the Study of Religion

RELIGION 1814: Devotional Literatures of South Asia: Qawwalis, Sufiana Kalam (Sufi Poetry) and the Ginans

Instructor: Ali Asani 

This course explores traditions of devotional poetry in South Asia through the lens of three genres: the qawwali, concerts of mystical poetry;  sufiana kalam, Sufi romantic epics and folk poems; and the ginans, songs of wisdom. In addition to playing...

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HDS 3045/RELIGION 1804/PERSIAN 108: Persian Sufi Literature

Instructor: Nicholas Boylston

In this course we will explore the major genres of classical Persian Sufi poetry and prose. In addition to examining the formation of these genres and their contexts of composition, we will pursue a range of broader questions, including: What is Sufism, and how do we discern ‘Sufi’ from ‘non-Sufi’ literature? What have the purposes and functions of literature been in Persianate Islamic contexts? What is the relationship between language, realization and experience Is Persian Sufi literature, and how do authors in the Sufi tradition deal with the problem of ineffability? What is the place of love in Persian Sufi literature and how is it conceptualized? And, how do Persian Sufi authors deal with the diversity inherent in human experience?... Read more about HDS 3045/RELIGION 1804/PERSIAN 108: Persian Sufi Literature

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Ali Asani

Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies
Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures
12 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
p: 617-495-5755