About
Behzad Borhan is a course lecturer of Persian language at the McGill’s Institute of Islamic Studies. He completed his Ph.D. in Persian Language and Literature at the University of Tehran in 2020 and started his second Ph.D. at the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill. He previously served as a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Religious Studies at Yale University (2017-2019) and held a position as a lecturer of Persian literature at the University of Tehran. Behzad’s research is characterized by its interdisciplinary nature, centering on Persian and Arabic mystical literature and Sufism, focusing specifically on the concept of karāmat (miracle). His first book, the annotated edition of Rumi’s Mathnawi, Laṭayif al-Ma’nawī Min Ḥaqayiq al-Mathnawī (2017) received the best student book of the year award by The Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology in Iran. His research findings have been published in reputable journals such as the Iranian Studies Journal, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, and Adab-e Fārsī.
Education
Ph.D., Persian Language and Literature, University of Tehran, 2020
M.A., Persian Language and Literature, University of Tehran, 2014
Publications
Books
- Laṭāyif al-Maʿnavī min Haqāyiq al-Mas̲navī, Abd al-Laṭīf Abbāsī Gujarāti. Edited, annotated, and introduced by Behzad Borhan, Tehran: Intishārāt-i Maḥmūd Afshār and Sukhan, 2017.
Articles
- Borhan, Behzad; Hajian-nezhad, Alireza. “A constructivist explanation for the contrast between Nirvānā and Fanā.” Persian Literature (Adab-i Fārsi, Journal of Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran), no. 23, 2019, p. 21-41.
- Borhan, Behzad. “Zinā of the Eye or Gaze of the Eye? A suggestion for editing a verse in the Mas̲navi of Rumi.” Persian Language and Literature, no. 22, 2020, p. 36-46.
- Borhan, Behzad. “Analysis of ambiguous phrases in the Tārīkh-i Jahān-Gushā of Juwainī.” Kohan Nāmeh-yi Adab-i Pārsī, no. 03, 2016, p.103-118.
- Borhan, Behzad. “Some new facts about Abd al-Laṭīf Abbāsī Gujarāti’s life.” Subcontinent, vol. 04, no. 04, 2015, p. 221-235.
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.
Talks, Conferences & Workshops
“Making sense of Kīmīyā-yi Saʿādat through al-Ghazzālī’s Sufi sources,” presented at MEA 2023, Montréal, Canada, November 2023.
“The Evolution of Karāmat Narratives in Sufi literature,” Presented at MESA 2022, Denver, Colorado, December 2022.
“Among our Shaykh’s Karāmāt… Abū Saʿīd Abū'l-Khayr and his Karāmāt Narratives,” invited talk in Persian Circle, University of Chicago, November 2022.
“A Narrative of Karāmat or a Karāmat of Narrative?” in the Iranian Studies Conference (AIS 2022), Salamanca, Spain, August-September 2022.
“From Chords to Words: Pedagogical Benefits of Intertwining Persian Literature with Persian Traditional Music,” Presented at the 3rd International Conference on Teaching Persian Language and Literature, University of Cambridge, December 2021.
“Narratives of Karāmāt in the Sufi Literature,” invited talk at Khārazmī University, Tehran, Iran. March 2019.
“The Ghāsem-e Ghani Collection in Sterling Library at Yale,” invited talk at The National Library of Iran, Tehran, Iran. September 2018.
“Ghāsem-e Ghani and His Qājāric Documents,” invited talk at University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, October 2018.
“Mystical Hermeneutics: The Dialectic of Mystical Experiences and the Qurʾān,” Presented at The Eighth International Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society, University of California at Berkeley. April 2018.
