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>> Ghazal Ghazi: Hello,
my name is Ghazal Ghazi,

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and I'm a 2022 Junior Fellow at
the Library of Congress working

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in the Connecting
Communities Digital Initiative.

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For my project, I'm creating
a story map exploring the

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manifestations of love in the
poetry, miniature painting,

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and calligraphy

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of the trans-regional
Persianate world starting

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from the medieval era.

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I use archives from the
Library's Persian language rare

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materials collection, which
is comprised of over 300 items

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from throughout Central,
South, and West Asia.

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This project centers
a critical lens

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that challenges both
nationalist notions of identity,

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as well as how histories
of colonialism

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and imperialism have brought
forth Orientalist approaches

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to this literature.

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This project focuses
on the intersections

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of the three artistic
disciplines with a central theme

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of passionate love, or ish,
both its sacred manifestations

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as well as its earthly
human form.

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Common poetic forms include
The Ruba'iyyat, the Masnavi,

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and Ghazal like the
one shown here.

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In poetry, there are three
general approaches to love.

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In the first, ishq-e majazi,
or earthly, human love,

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it's recounted by poets
like Nezami and Ferdowsi

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through the romances
of star-crossed lovers,

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or poems where the object

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of desire takes a
literal human form.

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In this painting, Majnun and
Laylah faint from passion

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after seeing each other
for the first time

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after a long separation.

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Other poets like Jami shown
here, as well as Amir Khusrau

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and Mowlana, epitomize
the vision rooted

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in Islamic mysticism,
called Tasawwuf,

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and wrote of Ishq-e
Haqeeqi, or sacred love

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for the divine beloved, which
is considered true love.

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Sufi poems like this one by
Mowlana, who is better known

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in the West as Rumi, have
historically been subject

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to Orientalist interpretations
which would invisiblize Islam.

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However, by reading the works in
a visual context, we would know

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for example, that in this poem
when Rumi says give me wine,

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wine is a metaphor for
divine love and union.

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A third approach
embodied by Hafiz

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and Sadi is intentionally
ambiguous

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in describing the beloved
as either human or divine.

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Perhaps nowhere else is
intergenerational transmission

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of knowledge better embodied
than in the tradition

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of calligraphy, which has
been passed down through lines

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of master calligraphers
to their students.

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Scripts like Nasta'liq
and Shekasteh gave form

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to the poetic verses and
enjoy transregional adoption

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and popularity throughout
Persianate lands.

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Exquisitely detailed miniature
paintings illuminate the

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manuscripts of poets and
narrate their stories.

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Rather than think of them
as three separate entities,

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these different artistic
disciplines all coalesce

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on the page of the manuscript.

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With poetry is a central
root, this project seeks

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to explore how writers and
artists engage in dialogue

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across time and space, and
how these conversations

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about love manifest
in their art.

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I want to thank the
Library of Congress

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and the Connecting
Communities Digital Initiative

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for their support
throughout this project.