the thought of leaving this world for the heavens, paradise and hell inspired by the holy prophet’s ascension appeared in the form of fictional stories in the arabic literature in the fifth century (solar calendar), i.e. in the late abbasid period, although the history of such journeys goes back to the time before islam. as it goes in pahlavi texts, the first one to have gone on oneiric journey...

al-jawahiri, one of the most illustrious contemporary classical poets of iraq, was born in the holy city of najaf to a cultured, scholarly, and cultivated family. the scientific and cultural environment of najaf, the literary and scientific richness of his familial atmosphere, and al-jawahiri’s poetic taste and talent caused him to turn to his predecessor poets’ works, especially the ones from ...