In Conversation: Leili Anvar and Amina Taha-Hussein Okada on “Leyli and Majnûn” (French)

Join Leili Anvar and Amina Taha-Hussein Okada, two of the principal contributors to the landmark edition of Leyli and Majnûn by Jâmi, published by Éditions Diane de Selliers, for a conversation exploring one of the greatest love stories in Persian literature. Leili Anvar authored the translation, notes, and introduction to the volume, while Amina Taha-Hussein Okada oversaw its iconography and contributed to the introductory texts.

Through a dialogue bringing together literature, art, and spirituality, they will explore the richness of this major work, in which love becomes a path to knowledge and inner transformation. The discussion will address themes of longing, devotion, separation, and the search for the Beloved, while also offering a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of this exceptional publication, enriched with 180 Persian, Mughal, Indian, Ottoman, and Turkish miniatures.

The conversation will be held in French and will be followed by an audience Q&A and a book-signing session.

Copies of Leyli and Majnûn are available for purchase in advance of the event. Books ordered through the Museum Shop (follow this link) will be available for collection on the day of the event, prior to the lecture and book-signing session.

THIS TALK IS CONDUCTED IN FRENCH. 

Sunday, October 4, 2:30 PM – 4:45 PM

Jâmi’s Leyli and Majnun, Illustrated with Oriental Miniatures
Translated from Persian, with notes and an introduction by Leili Anvar
Diane de Selliers Publishing

About the speakers

Leili Anvar is a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure and a Senior Lecturer at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations (INALCO). A specialist in Persian literature, mystical poetry, and the spiritual traditions of the Iranian world, she is both a translator and an author whose research has focused extensively on love literature and its spiritual dimensions.

She has published numerous books and articles, including The Religion of Love according to Rumi (La Religion de l’Amour de Rûmî, Seuil, 2011), as well as several landmark publications with Éditions Diane de Selliers. She is particularly known for her acclaimed verse translation into French of The Conference of the Birds by Farid al-Din Attar, one of the masterpieces of Persian mystical literature.

Amina Taha-Hussein Okada is an art historian and General Curator at the Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, where she has devoted most of her career to the arts and civilizations of India. A leading specialist in Indian art, she is the author of numerous books and articles for both scholarly and general audiences.

She notably directed the publication of The Ramayana of Valmiki Illustrated by Indian Miniatures from the 16th to the 19th Century for Éditions Diane de Selliers, a work that was awarded the Hirayama Prize by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. She also served as the scientific editor of The Bhagavad Gita Illustrated by Indian Painting, for which she wrote the introduction and iconographic commentaries.