Classical Persian literature is rich with the portrayal of and references to the story of the Ascension of the Prophet of Islam into heaven to meet God (mi'raj). According to the legend, the archangels Gabriel and Michael meet Prophet Muhammad and prepare him for his meeting with God. Gabriel and a winged mythical creature Buraq transport him overnight from Mecca to Jerusalem and then from Jerusalem to heaven, possibly using a ladder (mi?r?j). Mohammad and Gabriel proceed through seven levels of heaven to reach the throne of God. Numerous Persian poets have recast the story. Nezami (a 12th century Persian poet) has versified the story of the Ascension in almost all of his books, collectively known as Five Treasures (Panj Ganj). Building upon the works of Fouchecour, Gruber, Mesaimi, Burgel, Asfrayeni, Hematian, Porshekuh, Favai, and others, this paper raises a number of new questions. Why has Nezami portrayed the story of ascension in all of his work? How are these presentations different? What do they tell us about the author's approach to literature and poetry? Generally, critics of Persian poetry take these representations as a sign of religious and/or mystic belief of the poets who presented them. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the portrayal of the story of Ascension in Nezami's works to find the main driving motive in his various portrayals and renditions of the story. The paper further compares Nezami's presentation of the Story of Ascension (from all his five books) with those presented in Shiite and Suni sources on the Story of Ascension (books of me'raj) and with those of other poets and authors who recounted the story in their literary works. Moreover, the paper intends to explain Nezami's evolving literary thoughts through his rendering of the story overtime and the way each version in each of his masterpieces corresponds to his notion of the concepts of rhetoric and poesy. This inquiry is a continuation of the projects on Nezami's poetry in showing the connection between his treatment of different themes and subjects and his dedication to his profession. Keywords: Nezami Ganjavi, Me'raj stories, Faith, Buraq, Intertextuality, Science Fiction, Representation

Wind, as a natural element and as a symbolic significance, is extensively featured in Persian poetry. In this paper, I analyze the poetic subject of wind as a cultural element representing time and space in which the poems were written. Describing the essential characteristics of wind in classical Persian poetry, I focus on a specific type called the gentle wind. This category includes the spring wind (Bad-e Bahari), the morning wind (Bad-e Sobhgahi), the new-year wind (Bad-e Norouzi), the agreed wind (Bad-e Movafegh), breeze (Nasim), and the Saba wind. Persian poets consider these winds as living creatures that might affect the course of an event or life itself. These winds exist and blow in Persian poetry not only as natural phenomena but also as messengers, as conduits, as symbols. They connect lovers to their beloved. They carry delightful omens. They revive and resurrect the dead. These constructive perceptions of wind are expressed in the classical poetry genre corresponding with traditional society. What are the reasons for the continuity or discontinuity in the way the concept of wind has been portrayed in the classical era? When did the concept begin to change meaning and use? This paper addresses three prominent poets including Rumi, Sa'di, and Hafez in order to explain the genesis and development of the poetic concept of the gentle wind. Providing examples from later periods, the paper draws a distinction between the symbolic significance of this element in different eras and literary schools. It provides textual and discourse analyses as well as such concepts as the Bakhtinian notion of Chronotope in its analysis.

Of the many plants and fungi surveyed in the 'ahadith traditions of the Shi'a Imams is harmal, a botanical category unique for its seeds that, when prepared accordingly, produce a psychoactive effect. This paper presents evidence that suggests that the harmal referenced in canonical Shi'a sources is the same soma-haoma found in the respective Vedic and Zoroastrian traditions, thought to induce spiritual and oneiric inspiration and employed in religious ritual. Our inquiry begins and ends with 'ahadith contained in Baqir Majlisi’s Bihar al-Anwar, proceeding as a type of thought experiment, at each step presenting information that elucidates the harmal’s background (later featured as espand in numerous poems) and accretive development as a vegetal sacrament. The data that we cull from a diversity of sources, including religious doctrines, philological analyses, plant physiology research and archaeological remains, suggests that Muslim authors of the early Shi'a canon, in communication with preceding spiritual traditions, were aware of the mystical properties of this variety of “celestial botany.” From this evidence, we present the various attempts to name and distinguish the harmal’s plant variety, along with the enduring epistemic challenges that have historically frustrated this effort. We conclude, based on the methodological and philological fitness of their study, that Flattery & Schwartz’s (1989) botanical identification of the harmal as Peganum harmala is the current most creditable attempt at the plant’s disclosure. Although theories as to the harmal’s influence on the motifs of Islamic art and architecture in the Iranian Plateau are increasingly abundant, our study asserts that, however suggestive of ineffable spiritual experiences, these theories are still highly speculative. What does appear, rather, is a panoply of synergistic Indo-Iranian themes undergirding much of the religious ethos witnessed in the 'ahadith that must be considered further in approaching the latter’s authentication. Key words: Shi'ism, harmal, Iranian Plateau, soma-haoma, angels, entheogens, Bihar al-Anwar.

Animals and non-humans have always been the subjects of fables and allegories in Persian prose and poetry. Farid ud-Din Attar Nishapuri is amongst the earliest and the most successful Persian poets who used his poetry as a platform to define the Islamic mysticism and its fundamental doctrines using birds and animals. In his lyrical work, Mantiq-ul-tayr(the Conference of the Birds), he has magnificently illustrated sufi’s fundamental principles as well as the teachings of the sufi shaikhs (spiritual leader) by using specific birds as representatives of the searching soul who set out to learn the true path. In his work, Attar portrays a crowd of birds who decide to go on a mission in pursuit of their promised sovereign, or the divine. Attar has used these birds to define Sufis’ frame of mind, their personal experiences, the spiritual stages they go through in order to reach unity, and their worldviews. Within this context, the character of hoopoe represents a shaikh or pir (wise leader). The other birds are illustrated by their species while each of them demonstrate a particular human figure. This paper seeks to explore the ways that Attar deploys animals for literary, ethical, and philosophical purposes. A number of animal characters of Attar’s Mantiq-ul-tayr will be analyzed to demonstrate the significance of animals within Sufi literature. By engaging in discourse analysis and comparing the poet’s portrayal of birds with other literary works’ presentation of animals, this paper will show that these allegorical entities and characters don’t appear with the same symbolic significance from one story to another across the board of literary works. Moreover, the paper will produce a platform to associate Attar’s symbolic work with similar Persian and South Asian allegorical accounts, such as Panchatantra, to facilitate a better understanding of the animal genre in Persian poetry.