>> Ghazal Ghazi: Hello,
my name is Ghazal Ghazi,
and I'm a 2022 Junior Fellow at
the Library of Congress working
in the Connecting
Communities Digital Initiative.
For my project, I'm creating
a story map exploring the
manifestations of love in the
poetry, miniature painting,
and calligraphy
of the trans-regional
Persianate world starting
from the medieval era.
I use archives from the
Library's Persian language rare
materials collection, which
is comprised of over 300 items
from throughout Central,
South, and West Asia.
This project centers
a critical lens
that challenges both
nationalist notions of identity,
as well as how histories
of colonialism
and imperialism have brought
forth Orientalist approaches
to this literature.
This project focuses
on the intersections
of the three artistic
disciplines with a central theme
of passionate love, or ish,
both its sacred manifestations
as well as its earthly
human form.
Common poetic forms include
The Ruba'iyyat, the Masnavi,
and Ghazal like the
one shown here.
In poetry, there are three
general approaches to love.
In the first, ishq-e majazi,
or earthly, human love,
it's recounted by poets
like Nezami and Ferdowsi
through the romances
of star-crossed lovers,
or poems where the object
of desire takes a
literal human form.
In this painting, Majnun and
Laylah faint from passion
after seeing each other
for the first time
after a long separation.
Other poets like Jami shown
here, as well as Amir Khusrau
and Mowlana, epitomize
the vision rooted
in Islamic mysticism,
called Tasawwuf,
and wrote of Ishq-e
Haqeeqi, or sacred love
for the divine beloved, which
is considered true love.
Sufi poems like this one by
Mowlana, who is better known
in the West as Rumi, have
historically been subject
to Orientalist interpretations
which would invisiblize Islam.
However, by reading the works in
a visual context, we would know
for example, that in this poem
when Rumi says give me wine,
wine is a metaphor for
divine love and union.
A third approach
embodied by Hafiz
and Sadi is intentionally
ambiguous
in describing the beloved
as either human or divine.
Perhaps nowhere else is
intergenerational transmission
of knowledge better embodied
than in the tradition
of calligraphy, which has
been passed down through lines
of master calligraphers
to their students.
Scripts like Nasta'liq
and Shekasteh gave form
to the poetic verses and
enjoy transregional adoption
and popularity throughout
Persianate lands.
Exquisitely detailed miniature
paintings illuminate the
manuscripts of poets and
narrate their stories.
Rather than think of them
as three separate entities,
these different artistic
disciplines all coalesce
on the page of the manuscript.
With poetry is a central
root, this project seeks
to explore how writers and
artists engage in dialogue
across time and space, and
how these conversations
about love manifest
in their art.
I want to thank the
Library of Congress
and the Connecting
Communities Digital Initiative
for their support
throughout this project.