Launching the Read & Reflect series
The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) is pleased to announce the launch of Read & Reflect, a new series of publications designed to make the Institute’s rich knowledge resources more accessible to general, non-specialist audiences. It is conceived as part of the Institute’s Strategic Plan. The series will present selected themes, figures, traditions, and texts from the intellectual and cultural heritage of Islam, with a particular focus on the Ismaili community, in an approachable and engaging format.
Know Your Qasidas
The first title in the series, Know Your Qasidas, focuses on qasidas, devotional compositions that form an important part of the cultural and spiritual life of many Ismaili communities, particularly from Iranian and Central Asian regions. This initial volume offers readers multiple ways to connect with the qasidas. Each composition is presented in its original language, accompanied by an English transliteration to support recitation for those less familiar with the script. A translation is also included, together with a brief explanatory essay to introduce the background, themes, and significance of the qasidaA polythematic poem originating in pre-Islamic Arabia. It has come to refer to any poem of a certain length in Arabic, Persian and Turkish literatures, often including the eulogy of… More.
To further support learning and appreciation, each qasida is linked to an video rendition through a QR code, enabling readers to hear and follow the recitation directly. This feature helps sustain an important devotional tradition among diasporic communities of IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (d. 765), as his successor. from Persian-speaking societies who now live in English-speaking contexts, while also opening the world of qasidas to English-speaking Ismailis from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Making knowledge resources accessible
While this first publication highlights qasidas from the Persianate tradition, future volumes will include compositions in Arabic, and potentially in Urdu, Burushaski, Shughni, Wakhi, and other languages where Ismaili poetic and liturgical creativity has flourished. Indeed, the Read & Reflect series is envisioned to expand well beyond religious poetry to key personalities, texts, as well as ethics and heritage sites.
These chapbook-style publications are intentionally compact so that they are easy to carry, keep close at hand, and read in everyday moments. Over time, IIS also hopes to make the series available in multiple languages and accessible formats through which to learn about the riches of Muslim civilisation.
