An audio platform for the study of the pre-modern Islamic(ate) past and beyond. We interview academics, archivists and artists on their work for peers and junior students in the field. We aim to educate, inspire, perhaps infuriate, and on the way entertain a little too.
https://linktr.ee/abbasidhistorypodcast
Suitable also for general listeners with an interest in geographically diverse medieval history.
🖋️EP065 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Jami (d. 1492 CE): End of an Era
A prolific poet, Jami, is the embodiment of the photo-Ottoman Bengal-to-Balkans cosmopolitan Sufi intellectual.
Jami was born in 1414 near the border of modern day Iran and Afghanistan during the tail end of the era of the shadow Abbasid caliphs before the Ottoman claim to the Caliphate. He worked for the local Timurid court. And at the end of his life, Islamic rule ended in the Iberian peninsula and a sea voyager called Columbus set out to find a better route to India.
He appears to come from a scholarly Sunni family and had a specific interest in the teachings of Ibn Arabi. What more do we know about his life?
His works are many and some appear influenced by Nizami whom we covered in episode 62. Tell us about them.
What translations and secondary resources would you recommend on Jami?
And finally let's end with a sample and translation.
Further reading
Jami by Hamid Algar
The Persian Mystics: Jami by F. Hadland Davis
Yusuf and Zulaikha: A Poem by Jami by Ralph T.H. Griffith
Ali Hammoud:
https://alihammoud7.substack.com/
We are sponsored by IHRC bookshop. Listeners get a 15% discount on all purchases. Visit IHRC bookshop at shop.ihrc.org and use discount code AHP15 at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. Contact IHRC bookshop for details.
14 Dec 2025
🖋️EP064 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Hafez (d. 1390 CE): Tongue of the Unseen
Regarded as the pinnacle of Persian literature, his works are a household item for Persian-speaking families and read during the Yalda winter solstice festival and Nowruz spring equinox festival. He was also widely known amongst European intellectuals, with even Engels mentioning him to Marx in a letter.
Hafez lived in Shiraz under the waning Mongol Ilkhanate and at his death in 1390, the region was being incorporated into Timur's empire. What more do we know about Hafez's socio-political and cultural context?
There are many mythical tales about Hafez. What can we know about his life?
The influence of Hafez can't be underestimated. Tell us about his works.
And what translations and secondary resources do you recommend? It should be pointed out that there are wonderful illustrated versions including one owned by the Cartier family of jewellers.
And finally let's end with a sample and translation.
Further reading
Hafez and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry. Edited by Leonard Lewioshn.
Faces of Love: Hafez and the Poets of Shiraz by Dick Davis(partial)
Poems from the Divan of Hafiz by Gertrude Bell (partial)
The Divan-I Hafiz by Wilberforce Clarke (complete translation)
Ali Hammoud:
https://alihammoud7.substack.com/
We are sponsored by IHRC bookshop. Listeners get a 15% discount on all purchases. Visit IHRC bookshop at shop.ihrc.org and use discount code AHP15 at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. Contact IHRC bookshop for details.
22 Nov 2025
🖋️EP06 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Saadi (d. 1292 CE): the Master
Abū Muḥammad Musharrif al-Dīn Muṣliḥ b. ʿAbd-Allāh, better known as Saadi is called simply as the Master in Persian for his place in classical Persian poetry. His Bustan and Gulistan takes pride of place in the canon of Islamic literary creations.
Saadi was born in Shiraz 1210CE. He was alive during the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258 who took over his homeland.
What more can we say about his socio-political and cultural context?
Saadi appears to have travelled extensively: Baghdad, India, Syria. What more can we say about his personal biography?
Saadi's Bustan and Gulistan are well-known. Give us a guide to reading those works and tell us about his other works. He also has an elergy to the fallen caliphate.
What translations and secondary resources would you recommend on Saadi?
And finally let's end with a sample and translation.
Further Reading:
Sa'di: The Poet of Life, Love and Compassion by Homa Katouzian
Gulistan (translated by Wheeler Thackston
Bustan (translated by G.M. Wickens)
Ali Hammoud:
https://alihammoud7.substack.com/
We are sponsored by IHRC bookshop. Listeners get a 15% discount on all purchases. Visit IHRC bookshop at shop.ihrc.org and use discount code AHP15 at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. Contact IHRC bookshop for details.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
22,100
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
15 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
13 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 59 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
51
Social presence
0
YouTube
76
Engagement
92
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