Navid Saberi-Najafi
Email: nsaberinajafi@ucdavis.edu
Education:
--PhD, Comparative Literature, UC Davis
--MA, Comparative Literature, UC Davis
--MA, English, University of Idaho
--BA, English Language and Literature, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
Navid Saberi-Najafi holds a PhD in comparative literature and is currently Continuing Lecturer in Persian Language and Literature and Programme Coordinator at the University of California, Davis. He has over 16 years of experience teaching a vast array of language and literature courses: In Iran, he taught English-language proficiency courses, and in the US, he has taught courses on English composition, on comparative literature, and on Persian language and literature since 2009. At UC Davis, he was one of the co-founders of the Persian programme in 2016.
Before pursuing his graduate studies in the US, Navid Saberi-Najafi was an international relations officer at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in northeastern Iran.
Supervisors: Jocelyn Sharlet
Education:
--PhD, Comparative Literature, UC Davis
--MA, Comparative Literature, UC Davis
--MA, English, University of Idaho
--BA, English Language and Literature, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
Navid Saberi-Najafi holds a PhD in comparative literature and is currently Continuing Lecturer in Persian Language and Literature and Programme Coordinator at the University of California, Davis. He has over 16 years of experience teaching a vast array of language and literature courses: In Iran, he taught English-language proficiency courses, and in the US, he has taught courses on English composition, on comparative literature, and on Persian language and literature since 2009. At UC Davis, he was one of the co-founders of the Persian programme in 2016.
Before pursuing his graduate studies in the US, Navid Saberi-Najafi was an international relations officer at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in northeastern Iran.
Supervisors: Jocelyn Sharlet
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Translation by Navid Saberi-Najafi
Edited, translated, and introduced by Navid Saberi-Najafi.
Sanā’ī of Ghazna (d. 1131 C.E.) was the first major poet of classical Persian Sufi literature. He was a monumental poet not just because of his versification skills, but also because of his profound influence upon Sufi poets such as ‘Aṭṭār of Kadkan (d. 1225 C.E.) and Mawlavī (Rumi) (d. 1273 C.E.). “On the Merciful God and on the Birds’ Glorifications,” in the Dīvān [collection of poems], is a qaṣīda (laudatory poem) comprising three key themes: nature, the centrality of the Sufi concept of dhikr (remembrance) to man’s salvation, and tawḥīd (the Oneness of God).
At the very beginning of the poem, Sanā’ī depicts one of the blessings of God, which is in the form of bountiful rain. Spring is the ideal setting for the poet to portray the avian species’ glorifications, not only because the revivification of nature takes place, but more importantly, because spring’s abundant rain is a sign of God’s forgiveness toward mankind. Dhikr—a central practice, in Islamic esoterism, derived from the Qur’an—and tawḥīd are two themes communicated through multifarious talking birds, such as the humā—a mythical bird like an eagle, who acknowledges the Oneness of God by saying, “The Unequaled is One.” Medieval Persian authors deployed the bird metaphor to concretize abstract Sufi concepts (e.g., dhikr). Further, the Qur’an—an important source of influence upon Muslim thinkers—likens birds to human communities (6/Al-An‘ām: 38). Sanā’ī conceives of birds as purposeful signs for humans to make sense of the universe. The red pigeon, for instance, serves as a spiritual model for humans, saying huwa [He] “one-hundred times with each breath.”
Simply put, Sanā’ī of Ghazna offers a brilliant poetic exegesis of 16/Al-Naḥl: 79: “Have they not considered the birds, made subservient, in midair? None holds them save God. Truly in that are signs for a people who believe" (trans. S.H. Nasr et al.).
Book by Navid Saberi-Najafi
Papers by Navid Saberi-Najafi
Abstracts by Navid Saberi-Najafi
Edited, translated, and introduced by Navid Saberi-Najafi.
Sanā’ī of Ghazna (d. 1131 C.E.) was the first major poet of classical Persian Sufi literature. He was a monumental poet not just because of his versification skills, but also because of his profound influence upon Sufi poets such as ‘Aṭṭār of Kadkan (d. 1225 C.E.) and Mawlavī (Rumi) (d. 1273 C.E.). “On the Merciful God and on the Birds’ Glorifications,” in the Dīvān [collection of poems], is a qaṣīda (laudatory poem) comprising three key themes: nature, the centrality of the Sufi concept of dhikr (remembrance) to man’s salvation, and tawḥīd (the Oneness of God).
At the very beginning of the poem, Sanā’ī depicts one of the blessings of God, which is in the form of bountiful rain. Spring is the ideal setting for the poet to portray the avian species’ glorifications, not only because the revivification of nature takes place, but more importantly, because spring’s abundant rain is a sign of God’s forgiveness toward mankind. Dhikr—a central practice, in Islamic esoterism, derived from the Qur’an—and tawḥīd are two themes communicated through multifarious talking birds, such as the humā—a mythical bird like an eagle, who acknowledges the Oneness of God by saying, “The Unequaled is One.” Medieval Persian authors deployed the bird metaphor to concretize abstract Sufi concepts (e.g., dhikr). Further, the Qur’an—an important source of influence upon Muslim thinkers—likens birds to human communities (6/Al-An‘ām: 38). Sanā’ī conceives of birds as purposeful signs for humans to make sense of the universe. The red pigeon, for instance, serves as a spiritual model for humans, saying huwa [He] “one-hundred times with each breath.”
Simply put, Sanā’ī of Ghazna offers a brilliant poetic exegesis of 16/Al-Naḥl: 79: “Have they not considered the birds, made subservient, in midair? None holds them save God. Truly in that are signs for a people who believe" (trans. S.H. Nasr et al.).