Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Titus Burckhardt, An Introduction to 

Sufi Doctrine (Wellingsborough, England: Aquarian 

Press, 1976); Annemarie Schimmel, And Muhammad 

Is His Messenger (Chapel Hill: University of North 

Carolina Press, 1985); Idries Shah, The Sufis (New York: 

Anchor, 1964).

Persia

  See i

ran

.

Persian Gulf

  See g

ulf

 s

tates

; g

ulf

 w

ars

; i

ran

; 

i

raq

; s

audi

 a

rabia

.

Persian language and literature

Persian (also known as Farsi) is one of the lead-

ing languages, together with Arabic and Turkish, 

known to the Islamicate cultures and civilizations. 

It has been the medium for writing history, poetry, 

philosophy

, 

science

, and religious literature among 

Persian-speaking peoples in the Middle East and 

Central and South Asia for more than one thou-

sand years. Today it is estimated that there are 

more than 100 million Persian speakers. It is an 

official language in i

ran

, a

Fghanistan

, and Tajiki-

stan, but there are also sizeable Persian-speak-

ing populations in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and