Introduction

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter 1
2. Table of Contents 5
3. Acknowledgments 7
4. Notes on Translations, Transliterations and Footnotes 9
5. Introduction 11
6. Chapter 1. The Clergy’s Role in Politics 17
7. Chapter 2. Ayatollah Khomeini’s Inner World: Mysticism and Poetry 39
8. Chapter 3. Ayatollah Khomeini, the Topical Poet and his Quatrains (robâʿis) 55
9. Chapter 4. Ayatollah Khomeini as an Antinomian Poet: Lyrical Poems (ghazals) 83
10. Chapter 5. Ayatollah Khomeini, the Shiite Philosopher and his Panegyric Poems (qasides) 109
11. Chapter 6. Reception of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Poetry in Iran and Abroad 149
12. General Conclusion 195
13. Notes 199
14. Bibliography 233
15. Index 245