Hossein Mohyeddin Elahi Ghomshei better known as Elahi Ghomshei, is an Iranian scholar, author and lecturer on literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

, art and mysticism.

Life and Education

Dr. Hossein Elahi Ghomshei was born on 4 January 1940 in Tehran

Tehran

Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

, Iran. He is the son of Mehdi Mohyeddin Elahi Ghomshei, the famous translator of Quran into Persian. He received his PhD in Islamic Theology and Philosophy from the University of Tehran

University of Tehran

The University of Tehran , also known as Tehran University and UT, is Iran's oldest university. Located in Tehran, the university is among the most prestigious in the country, and is consistently selected as the first choice of many applicants in the annual nationwide entrance exam for top Iranian...

.

Traditional Education

• Arabic literature, grammar, logic, theosophy, jurisprudence, and Kalam: Tehran Seminary School
• Persian literature: especially Nezami, Rumi, Hafez, Saadi and Attar
• Islamic mysticism: especially Ibn-al-Arabi and Ibn-al-Farez
• Philosophy of the fine arts

Lectureship

Ghomshei was a lecturer at Tehran University and other universities and institutes (1968–2000) in the fields of:

• Philosophy
• Philosophy of the fine arts (aesthetics
  Aesthetics
  Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
  
  )
• Persian literature and mysticism
  Persian literature
  Persian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
  
  
• Theology and Islamic mysticism
  Islamic studies
  In a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
  
  
• English literature (emphasis on Shakespeare)
• Works of Rumi, Saadi, Hafez, Attar, Nezami, Ferdowsi, Shabestari.

Other academic works

Ghomshei has been:

• an international guest lecturer (partial list below)
• a domestic lecturer at various locations
• an author and translator (partial list below)
• the Director, National Library of Iran
  National Library of Iran
  The National Library of Iran is located in Tehran, Iran, with several branches are scattered throughout the city.Prior to the library's official inauguration in 1937, other libraries existed that performed the same function informally. The first prototype of a national library in Iran was the...
  
   (1981-2)
• a culture and art adviser
• an editor

International Lecture Sites (Partial List)

• England

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Dartington Hall, Devon

Cambridge University

Oxford University

Temenos Academy, London

University of Exeter

SOAS, University of London

Imperial College, University of London

University College of London

• Scotland

University of Glasgow

• United States of America

University of California, Berkley

University of California, Los Angeles

University of Southern California (USC)

University of California, Long Beach

University of George Town

University of Harvard

University of Princeton

Stanford University

• Australia

University of Melbourne

Macquarie University, Sydney

Monash University

University of Queensland

• Canada

University of British Colombia

Simon Fraser University

• Austria

Goethe Institute

Vienna University

• France

Versaille Palaces

• Germany

Frankfurt Book Fair

Awards

• Most popular TV personality, highest ever rating at 86% (1998-9)

Books

• Selection from the Discourses of Rumi (Fihe-ma-Fih):1987
• Selection from the Conference of Birds (Mantiq-al-Tayr) by Attar:1994
• Divan Hafez (A Critical edition of Hafez’s collected poems):2002
• Essays on Persian Mystical Literature, Poetics and Aesthetics:1999
• Kimia ; Collected Essays, Translations and Introductions (Vol.1-5,8-10):1998-2011
• Introduction to Golshan-e-Raz (Sheikh Mahmoud Shabestari):1998
• A Study of Islamic Texts in English Translation (University Textbook):1992
• Selection of quotations and poems by Shakespeare (translation):2003
• The Prophet (Translation from Jebran Khalil):1999
• 365 days with Saadi:2002
• Omar Khayyam Robaiiats (Preface, editor):2003
• Selection From Shahnameh by Ferdowsi:2006
• Invocations of Komail (Translation from Emam Ali):2006
• Cultural Symposium:2007
• 365 days with English Literature:2007
• 365 days with Rumi:2009
• The Other Wise Man (Translation from Henry van Dyke):2007
• Subtleties of Mulla Nasreddin (Introduction and notes):2010
• 365 days with Quran:2011

Articles in English

1. Hossein Elahi Ghomshei. The Principles of the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry
2. Hossein Elahi Ghomshei. Hafez & the Divine Covenant
3. Hossein Elahi Ghomshei. Of Scent and Sweetness: Attar’s Legacy in Rumi, Shabestari and Hafez
4. Hossein Elahi Ghomshei. The Rose and the Nightingale: the Role of Poetry in Persian Culture
5. Hossein Elahi Ghomshei: Poetics & Aesthetics in the Persian Sufi Literary Tradition

Lecture Topics in English (Partial List)

• Seven Tales under Seven Domes; by Nezami
• Attar : Seven Stations of Love
• An Aesthetic Approach to the Philosophical Theory of Substantial Motion
• Problems of the Predestination and Free Will
• Saadi & Shakespeare (A comparative study)
• Rose & Nightingale; An Introduction to Persian Literature and Mysticism
• Music in Persian Poetry
• Rumi : The Art and Wisdom of Storytelling in Mathnavi
• Hafez and His Works
• Cultural Investment for the Younger Generation
• The World of Happiness and How to Attain it
• Poetics and Aesthetics in Persian Literature
• Adventures in Persian Mysticism
• Mathnavi : A Book for All Ages
• Nasir Khosrow’s Poetry
• Mohyeddin Arabi and Ebn-e- Farez
• An Evening with Hafez
• Ethics of Science and Technology
• The Quran in Persian Literature
• The Wine of Alast: Divine Covenant of Man with God
• One and Many : The Circle of Being
• Global Ethics and the Human Nature
• Immortality of Soul
• Poetry and Prophecy
• Rumi: The Messenger of Love
• Islam and Human Nature
• Philosophical Doctrines and Spiritual Teachings of Rumi
• Alchemy of Love
• The Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry
• The Veils of God
• Total Integration of Man
• Perpetual Conflict between Man & Demon
• The Symphony of Rumi : A Thematic Approach to Rumi’s Poetry
• A Philosophical and Aesthetic Approach to the Laws of Harmony
• The Wisdom of the Heart in Ibn Arabi and Persian Mystic Literature
• The True Essence of Islam
• Islamic Mystical Bacchanalia: The Wine-Ode of Ibn Farid of Egypt
• The Mythology of Norouz in Persian Literature
• Rumi and Tagore on Love

Other Activities

1. Chairman of the Board, Elahi Ghomshei Culture & Art Institute, Tehran
2. Member of the Board, Mawlana Jalaledin Rumi Culture,Art,Research Institute, Tehran
3. Chief Editor.Chaleepa Quarterly Magazine, Calligraphy &Traditional Arts, Tehran
4. Fellow of the Temenos Academy, London
5. Member of the Advisory Council, Mawlana Rumi Review, London

External Links

• Dr. Elahi Ghomshei's Official Website
• Intellectual Movements in Iran
• Rumi
• List of Iranian intellectuals

Iranian humanitarians

• 365days with Dr. Elahi
• Dr. Elahi Ghomshei Lectures