海角社区

About

Behzad Borhan is a Course Lecturer of Persian Language at 海角社区鈥檚 Institute of Islamic Studies (IIS) and a Ph.D. candidate in Islamic Studies at 海角社区. He received his first Ph.D. in Persian Language and Literature from the University of Tehran in 2020. He previously served as a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Religious Studies at Yale University (2017鈥�2019) and as a Visiting Professor of Persian Literature at the University of Tehran. He is an Executive Board Member of the American Association of Teachers of Persian (AATP) for the 2026鈥�2028 term and a former Council Member of the Association for Iranian Studies (AIS) (2023鈥�2025).

His scholarship is organized around two principal areas of specialization: Persian language and literature, and Sufi studies with a particular focus on 办补谤腻尘补迟 (saintly miracles). In Persian language and literature, his work combines philological precision with an emphasis on pedagogy and cultural transmission. In the classroom, he approaches Persian as a living aesthetic and intellectual tradition. Poetry, music, performance, and close textual analysis form an integral part of his teaching, inviting students to engage the language not only through grammar and syntax, but through sound, embodiment, and artistic experience. He is also preparing a new annotated translation of 士Umar Khayy腻m鈥檚 搁耻产腻士iyy腻t, based on the latest critical edition.

His research on Persian and Arabic mystical literature and the study of Sufism examines how hagiographical narratives construct sanctity, authority, and spiritual intimacy through narrative form. He is the 2025 Research Award recipient of Canadian Friends of Sufi Arts, Culture and Knowledge (CFSACK) for his project, The Islamic Hagiography Index Archive (IHIA), a research initiative dedicated to indexing and analyzing miracle narratives across Islamic sources. He is the author of the annotated edition of Rumi鈥檚 惭补迟丑苍补飞墨, La峁�腻yif al-Ma士naw墨 min 岣�aq腻yiq al-Mathnaw墨 (2017), which received the Best Student Book of the Year Award from Iran鈥檚 Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology. His forthcoming monograph, Among Our Shaykh鈥檚 Kar腻m腻t (Az Kar腻m腻t-e Shaykh-e M腻), will be published by Nashr-i Ney.

Education

Ph.D., Persian Language and Literature, University of Tehran, 2020

M.A., Persian Language and Literature, University of Tehran, 2014

Publications

Books & Chapters

Books

• Among our Shaykh鈥檚 Kar腻m腻t (Az Kar腻m腻t-e Shaikh-e M腻). 360 pp. Tehran: Nashr-i Ney (Forthcoming, Summer 2026)
• , Abd al-Lat蹋i虅f Abba虅si虅 Gujara虅ti. Edited, annotated, and introduced by Behzad Borhan. 555 pp. Tehran: Intisha虅ra虅t-i Mah蹋mu虅d Afsha虅r and Sukhan, 2017.

Book Chapters

• 听鈥淟yrical Language Learning: A Multisensory Approach to Teaching Persian Language through Literature and Music.鈥� In Adopting and Adapting Persian Literature in Teaching Persian, edited by Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi and Azita H. Taleghani. Brill, 2026.
• 听鈥淏ody in Medieval Islamic Hagiographies.鈥� In Handbook of Sufi Studies: Sufism and the Body, edited by Sara Abdel-Latif and Eyad Abuali. Brill, 2026.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

• Borhan, Behzad. 鈥淚slamic Miracles in the Eyes of Religious Others,鈥� Taylor and Francis鈥檚 Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations.
• Borhan, Behzad; Hajian-nezhad, Alireza. 鈥淎 constructivist explanation for the contrast between Nirva虅na虅 and Fana虅.鈥� Persian Literature (Adab-i F腻rsi, Journal of Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran), no. 23, 2019, p. 21-41.
• Borhan, Behzad. 鈥�Zin腻 of the Eye or Gaze of the Eye? A suggestion for editing a verse in the Mas滩navi of Rumi.鈥� Persian Language and Literature, no. 22, 2020, p. 36-46.
• Borhan, Behzad. 鈥淎nalysis of ambiguous phrases in the Ta虅r墨kh-i Jaha虅n-Gusha虅 of Juwaini虅.鈥� Kohan N腻meh-yi Adab-i P腻rs墨, no. 03, 2016, p.103-118.
• Borhan, Behzad. 鈥淪ome new facts about Abd al-Lat蹋i虅f Abba虅si虅 Gujara虅ti鈥檚 life.鈥� Subcontinent, vol. 04, no. 04, 2015, p. 221-235.

鈥孭eer-Reviewed Book Reviews

• Persianate Selves: Memories of Place and Origin Before Nationalism, Mana Kia (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press 2021, xxiv + 312 pp.) in Iranian Studies Journal, 2022.
• Sinews of war and trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula, by Laleh Khalili (London: Verso 2020, 386 pp.) in British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2021.

Invited Talks & Conference Presentations

• 鈥�Persian in Play: Music, Theatre, and Literature in Language Learning,鈥� presented at the 5th International Conference on Teaching Persian Language and Literature, hosted by Cambridge University and Yerevan State University, September 2025.
• 鈥�Lyrical Language Learning: A Multisensory Approach to Teaching Persian Language through Literature and Music,鈥� invited talk in Literature in Persian Language Pedagogy Lecture Series, hosted by University of Toronto and University of Chicago, February 2025.
• 鈥�Wishful Hearing: Auditory Experiences in Sufi Literature,鈥� presented at the Iranian Studies Conference (AIS 2024), Mexico City, Mexico, August 2024.
• 鈥�Nowruz in Persian Literature and Spring Poems of Khayyam,鈥� invited talk at Concordia University, April 2024.
• 鈥�You Wrote This Poem,鈥� Shared Pain, Twitter Trend, and an Overnight Anthem Called Bar腻ye,鈥� invited talk in Persian Circle, University of Chicago, November 2023.
• 鈥淢aking sense of K墨m墨y腻-yi Sa士腻dat through al-Ghazz腻l墨鈥檚 Sufi sources,鈥� presented at MEA 2023, Montr茅al, Canada, November 2023.
• 鈥�The Evolution of Kar腻mat Narratives in Sufi literature,鈥� Presented at MESA 2022, Denver, Colorado, December 2022.
• 鈥�Among our Shaykh鈥檚 Kar腻m腻t鈥� Ab奴 Sa士墨d Ab奴'l-Khayr and his Kar腻m腻t Narratives,鈥� invited talk in Persian Circle, University of Chicago, November 2022.
• 听鈥淎 Narrative of Kar腻mat or a Kar腻mat of Narrative?鈥� in the Iranian Studies Conference (AIS 2022), Salamanca, Spain, August-September 2022.
• 鈥�From Chords to Words: Pedagogical Benefits of Intertwining Persian Literature with Persian Traditional Music,鈥� Presented at the 3rd International Conference on Teaching Persian Language and Literature, University of Cambridge, December 2021.
• 鈥�Narratives of Kar腻m腻t in the Sufi Literature,鈥� invited talk at Kha虅razm墨 University, Tehran, Iran. March 2019.
• 鈥�The Gha虅sem-e Ghani Collection in Sterling Library at Yale,鈥� invited talk at The National Library of Iran, Tehran, Iran. September 2018.
• 鈥�Gha虅sem-e Ghani and His Q腻j腻ric Documents,鈥� invited talk at University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, October 2018.
• 鈥�Mystical Hermeneutics: The Dialectic of Mystical Experiences and the Qur示腻n,鈥� Presented at The Eighth International Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society, University of California at Berkeley. April 2018.