On my latest visit to Iran, I purchased a delightful, handcrafted artwork: a miniature gold tableau adorned with elegant flowers, upon which is inscribed a famous line of Persian poetry. The verse speaks of the destitution one embodies before God, pleading for a shred of mercy. Powerful though it is, at the time I did not think of locating the source of the verse. It sufficed merely as a decoration.

Months later, I stumbled upon the entire poem from which the line is found. Two verses resonated with me: the verse inscribed on the tableau, and the verse that immediately precedes it:

Fasten a goblet to my shroud

So that upon that Day

With the overflowing wine

My heart’s fear I’ll allay

I’m in tatters at your threshold

So have mercy on me

For other than to your great love

I have no place to flee

I knew when I read these verses that I had come across something worth noting and pondering; that I had........

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