Irfan Nazarahari, a writer and a poet, is one of the most well-known authors in the contemporary Iran. Born in 1974 in Tehran, she did her PhD degree in the Persian language and literature. Winner of several literary awards (“The book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, “The Parvin Etesami literary award”). She has written more than 15 collections of stories and poems; many of them have been translated into English, French, Turkish, Italian, German, Swedish, Dutch, Arabic and Japanese.
Without exaggeration, the books of I. Nazarahari can be called an encyclopaedia of practical mysticism (‘irfan). They are full of numerous allusions for Qur’anic stories, masterpieces of classical Persian literature, achievements of the Sufi thought and hagiographical collections.
The book “Light and bread” consists of five parts: “The Prophet passed by our house”, “There is a whale beating in your chest”, “All the daughters of the earth are called Leyli”, “Two days left until the end of the world”, “I am the eighth one out of those seven”. All stories in it are about people, truth and good deeds, love and beauty, responsibility and justice; about the light of knowledge that illuminates the darkness of ignorance; about self-understanding and one’s way to God.
These amazingly moving and deep parables written in a bright, beautiful and poetic language will allow thoughtful readers to discover the boundless world of Islam’s spiritual wisdom.
