Cyrus Ali Zargar

Cyrus Ali Zargar is the Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Central Florida. He completed a doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, in Near Eastern Studies in 2008, having studied English literature and Latin at UCLA before that. Zargar's research interests focus on the literature of medieval Sufism in Arabic and Persian. The poetic expression of mystical experiences, especially in the form of love poetry, occupies most of his attention, but he is also interested in Sufi ethical treatises, the writings of Ibn al-‘Arabi and early adherents to his worldview, and satire in medieval and modern literature. He is the author of articles in The Muslim World, The Journal of Arabic Literature and Encyclopedia Iranica.