The second volume in this series presents the reader with an extensive study of some major genres of Persian poetry from the first centuries after the rise of Islam to the end of the Timurid era and the inauguration of Safavid rule in the beginning of the sixteenth century. The authors explore the development of poetic genres, from the panegyric (qaside), to short lyrical poems (ghazal), and the quatrains (roba'i), tracing the stylistic evolution of Persian poetry up to 1500 and examine the vital role of these poetic forms within the rich landscape of Persian literature.

Ehan Yarshater was Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies, Columbia University, USA and the Founding Editor of the Encyclopædia Iranica. Among his publications are Persian Poetry under Shâhrokh (1955, in Persian); Myths and Legends of Ancient Iran (1959, in Persian); A Grammar of Southern Tati Dialects (1970); and The Persian Presence in the Islamic World (1988). Among the books he has edited are Higlights of Persian Art (with R. Ettinghausen, 1979), The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume III in two parts (1983), and Persian Literature (1988). He was also the general editor of the annotated translation of The History of al-Tabari (40 vols., 1979–2006); and the founding General Editor of the Persian Heritage Series, Persian Studies Series, and Modern Persian Literature Series.