The Persian Presence in the Islamic World (Levi Della Vida Symposia, Series Number 13)

In this volume, distinguished scholars reassess the Persian contribution to the Islamic world. The major essay by Ehsan Yarshater casts fresh light on that role, challenging the view that Islamic culture declined after the ninth century. In fact, he maintains, the adoption of Persian as the medium of literary expression meant that by the sixteenth century, Persian literary and intellectual paradigms had been cultivated in the greater part of the Islamic world. The ensuing essays are devoted to specific aspects of that contribution.