The book contains ten shape poems made from the collected works, or Divan of Hafez, the fourteenth-century Persian metaphysical poet from Shiraz. The whole Persian text of each poem has been designed in the shape of an animal mentioned by Hafez in the text, and set alongside a new English translation by the artist. The book has a foreword by Parvin Loloi, author of Hafez, Master of Persian Poetry and an essay Figural Calligraphy in the Muslim World by Robert Hillenbrand, Professor of Islamic Art, University of Edinburgh. A conventional Persian transcription appears at the end of the book.

In the world of Islamic Art, calligraphy is the highest form of artistic expression in a culture where the word is the icon. To this day, calligraphy remains the only art to evoke the essential character of the Islamic world in a continuous tradition.

Using script to make shapes, figural calligraphy, is an ancient art form in which Islamic calligraphers had no rivals. Naskh, the cursive Arabic script, was particularly suited to poetic and visual interpretation. It can bear significant distortion without sacrificing legibility as it can be read at the same time both phonetically and iconically. Based on the Arabic naskh, the nast’aliq script developed in fifteenth century Iran, was specifically designed for writing poetry in Persian, and serves as the model for Jila Peacock’s calligraphic style.

Jila Peacock is an Iranian born painter and printmaker working in Glasgow. Her research on Arabic calligraphy was supported by an AHRB grant at the Department of Oriental Studies, Cambridge, in 2003. The book, and enlarged colour silk-screens of each image, were displayed at New Hall, Cambridge, in September 2004, at Agnew’s, London, in November 2004, and at the London School of Oriental and African Studies in March 2005.The book will be on display as part of a major exhibition, Word into Art, at the British Museum from May to September 2006.

Collections :
- National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
- New Hall College, Cambridge
- The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
- The Mitchell Library, University of Glasgow
- The British Museum, London.
- The National Library of Scotland.
- The Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Screen-printed on Somerset Soft White and Tenjin mould, at the Glasgow Print Studio. Bound at the Wyvern Bindery London using Buckram and Victorian marbled paper.
- Published by Jila Peacock in Glasgow 2004
- Price (January 2007) £2500.00