This study of Niẓāmī’s (d. 1209) Makhzan ul-asrār (Treasure of Mysteries) deals with problems of the work’s history and reception, analyzing the formal setting of the poem as well as its stylistic elements, in particular its rich and difficult imagery. This demands a detailed examination of the alternately reflective, homiletic, and narrative textual structure of Makhzan ul-asrār, of Niẓāmī’s virtuoso technique of forming chains of associations, and of the didactic topics. Finally, the study provides a translation with commentary of the twenty parables, included by Niẓāmī in his first Mathnawī.

Islam is entering the horizon of an intercultural humanism.