In Persian literature the Necklace of the Pleiades is a metaphor for the six or seven stars (Parvin, or Soray, high up in the constellation Taurus) which the heavens bestow, like precious pearls, upon a poet in gratitude and reward for composing a beautiful poem. The poem itself is compared to a string of pearls, with its carefully chosen words bored like unique pearls and strung in perfect metrical proportion. This volume collects 24 essays (three of them in Persian) on Persian literature, culture and religion by Persian scholars from around the world, presented to Professor Heshmat Moayyad of the University of Chicago, on his 80th birthday, in recognition and gratitude for his long and fruitful career as scholar and teacher in the field of Persian and Iranian Studies. These essays reflect the state of the field of Persian literary studies and will be of substantial interest not only to scholars of Iranian culture, history and religions, but of Middle Eastern and South Asian studies, as well.
