{"product_id":"mystics-monarchs-and-messiahs-kathryn-babayan-9780932885289","title":"Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs: Cultural Landscapes of Early Modern Iran","description":"\u003cp\u003eFocusing on idealists and visionaries who believed that Justice could reign in our world, this book explores the desire to experience utopia on earth. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eReluctant to await another existence--another form, or eternal life following death and resurrection--individuals with \u003ci\u003eghuluww\u003c\/i\u003e, or exaggeration, emerged at the advent of Islam, expecting to attain the apocalyptic horizon of Truth. In their minds, Muhammad's prophecy represented one such cosmic moment of transformation. Even in the early modern period, some denizens of Islamdom continued to hope for a utopia despite aborted promises and expectations. In a moment of enthusiasm, one group called the \u003ci\u003eQizilbash\u003c\/i\u003e (Red Heads) took up arms at the turn of the sixteenth century to fight for Shaykh Ismaʿil Safavi, their divinely inspired leader. The Safavis succeeded in establishing an empire, but their revolutionary sensibilities were exposed to erasures and expulsion into the realms of heresy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe social settings in which such beliefs were performed in early modern Iran are highlighted in order to tease out the relationship between discourse and practice, narrating the ways in which a Persianate ethos uncovered new Islamic identities (Alid and Sufi). \u003ci\u003eMystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs\u003c\/i\u003e explores these belief systems within a dialogue between Semitic, Indo-Iranian, and Hellenic cultures that continued to resist the monotheist impulse to delay the meeting of the holy with the human until the end of time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Kathryn Babayan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0932885284\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780932885289\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2003\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 270\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.54lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.36h x 5.54w x 1.36d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2004 pg. 1532","brand":"Kathryn Babayan","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44072886468863,"sku":"9780932885289","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_8db7aba4-510b-4fca-aa71-2f522d1724c2.jpg?v=1685444519","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/mystics-monarchs-and-messiahs-kathryn-babayan-9780932885289","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}