Misaq-e-Ishq means The Covenant of Love and during Misaq-e-Ishq: The Poetry, Music and Spirituality of South Asian Muslim Cultures Ali Asani ’77 (Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures at Harvard); Pakistani pop star and author Ali Sethi ’06; and vocalist, guitarist and Grammy Award-winning producer Noah Georgeson will bring alive through musical performance, the poetic consciousness of several legendary South Asian mystic poets.

They will explore the lavishly transformative powers of love (ishq), interpreted variously as passion, devotion, ardour, commitment or just plain love. For the featured poets, love is a primordial link that connects the divine to all of creation. Tasting or experiencing the nectar of this love, they believe, is the central purpose of worldly existence. Their poetry, spanning a thousand years, responds to the exigencies of their eras with an idiom that supercedes orthodoxy and dissolves binaries. Join these thought leaders and artists as they invite audiences to understand the human and the divine through the all-encompassing lens of love.

This concert-conversation, which is the closing event of the Harvard ARTS FIRST Festival (May 2-5), is open to the public but requires tickets.

Check this page for information on ticket release dates.