اى پيك راستان خبر يار ما بگو ( Read more... )

از محبت تلخها شيرين شود
از محبت مسها زرين شود
از محبت دُردها صافى شود
از محبت دَردها شافى شود
از محبت مرده زنده ميكنند
از محبت شاه بنده ميكنند

By love, the bitter becomes sweet;
by love, copper becomes gold;
by love, dregs become clear;
by love, pains become healing;
by love the dead become living;
by love, the king becomes a slave.

az mohabbat ( Read more... )

I consulted a traditional Persian oracle, the divân-e Hâfez, for the coming year. I have big, serious challenges ahead of me this year.

I got this ghazal and translated it:

ما شبى دست برآريم و دعايى بكنيم
غم هجران ترا چاره ز جايى بكنيم

دل بيمار شد از دست رفيقان مددى
تا طبيبش به سر آريم و دوايى بكنيم

mâ shabi dast bar ârim o do‘âyi bo-konim ( Read more... )

Central Asian Women's Poetry Series #9 ( Read more... )

Seven human rights groups including Amnesty International have urged Iran to set aside a prison sentence for women's rights activist Delaram Ali. She was sentenced to 39 months in jail and to be flogged with 10 lashes for the "crime" of participation in a peaceful gathering of women’s rights defenders in June 2006, in Hafte Tir Square, which ended ( Read more... )

Central Asian women's poetry series #8

Meena (1956-1987), one of my feminist heroes, founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan in 1977. Her name means 'love' in the Pashto language.


( Read more... )

Central Asian women's poetry series #6 ( Read more... )

Central Asian women's poetry series #4 ( Read more... )

The Russian artist Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947) traveled in the Himalayas and Central Asia, and with his wife Helena founded the Agni Yoga Society based on occult interpretations of Central Asian mythic geography. I've always admired his use of light and color in painting mountainous scenery.

In this 1924 painting, Vedushchaya 'She Who Leads' or ' ( Read more... )