Persian Poetry in the Classical Era, 800-1500

Persian literature is the jewel in the crown of Persian culture. It has profoundly influenced the literatures of Ottoman Turkey, Muslim India and Turkic Central Asia and been a source of inspiration for Goethe, Emerson, Matthew Arnold and Jorge Luis Borges among others. Yet Persian literature has never received the attention it truly deserves. A History of Persian Literature answers this need and offers a new, comprehensive and detailed history of its subject. This 18-volume, authoritative survey reflects the stature and significance of Persian literature as the single most important accomplishment of the Iranian experience. It includes extensive, revealing examples with contributions by prominent scholars who bring a fresh critical approach to bear on this important topic. The third volume in this ground-breaking series explores mainly the poems written in the couplet form (mathnavi) including narrative mathnavis, allegorical mathnavis such as The Conference of the Birds by Attar as well as didactive mathnavis such as Sa'di's Bustan and Rumi's Mathnavi-ye Ma'navi. Included in this volume are also Strophic Poetry, Satirical and Invective Poems and Occasional Poems (qat'e) and some rarer forms of Persian poetry. This volume is an invaluable companion for anyone who wants to understand the continuing relevance and influence of Classical Persian Poetry.