Cover
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Notes on Translations, Transliterations and Footnotes
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Clergy’s Role in Politics
Iran’s Socio-Political Situation under the Qajar Dynasty (1785-1925)
Clergy-State Relations during the Qajar Period
The Role of the Clergy during the Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911)
The Clerical Response to Constitutionalism
The Rise of Reza Shah and the Curtailment of the Clergy’s Role
The Clergy’s Response to Reza Shah’s Modernisation Policies
The Clergy under Mohammad Reza Shah
Rise of Ayatollah Khomeini
Ayatollah Khomeini’s Mysticism
Studies of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Mysticism
The Role of Mysticism in Ayatollah Khomeini’s Life
Western Studies on Ayatollah Khomeini’s Poetical Work
The Role of Poets and Poetry in Persian Society
Ayatollah Khomeini’s Poetry
Chapter 3. Ayatollah Khomeini, the Topical Poet and his Quatrains (robâʿis)
Robâʿis in Historical Perspective
Biographical Elements: A Dialogue with Ayatollah Khomeini’s Daughter-in-Law
Mystical Love
The Iran-Iraq War
Martyrdom and Shiism
The Mystic Mansur Hallâj
The Kaʿba, the Holy House of God Despised
Conclusion
Structure of the Ghazal
Themes and Motifs in the Ghazal
The Ghazal in Historical Perspective
Ayatollah Khomeini’s Poetry Inspired by Hâfez
Ayatollah Khomeini’s Imitation of the Ghazal
Antinomian Elements in Ayatollah Khomeini’s Ghazals
Censure of the House of God in Mecca in Ayatollah Khomeini’s Ghazals
Conclusion
Chapter 5. Ayatollah Khomeini, the Shiite Philosopher and his Panegyric Poems (qasides)
The Qaside in Historical Perspective
Ayatollah Khomeini’s Qasides
The Concept of the Mohammadan Light
Veiling and Mystical Unveiling
Mohammad al-Mahdi, The twelfth Shiite Imam
Rejection of the Monarchy
Mahdi’s Representative on Earth: A Predecessor to Velâyat-e Faqih
Spiritual Perfection and Leadership
Anti-British Tendencies in Ayatollah Khomeini’s Qasides
The Shiite Interpretation of Oppression
Islamic Governance
Conclusion
Chapter 6. Reception of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Poetry in Iran and Abroad
Responses of Followers to Ayatollah Khomeini’s Poetry
Responses to Ayatollah Khomeini’s Poetry in the Diaspora
Conclusion
General Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
