The six or seven stars clustered in the constellation Taurus, brightly visible to the naked eye in the winter sky of the northern hemisphere and in the summer sky of the southern hemisphere, were known in Greek mythology as the Pleiades, the seven sisters born to Atlas and Pleione. In the Islamicate tradition, the Pleiades are sometimes seen as a cluster of grapes, sometimes as pearls or jewels (Imru al-Qays in his Mu‘allaqa already likens them to a jewel-encrusted sash). The stars of the Pleiades may often appear linked as if by a halo or milky thread and are consequently likened to precious pearls on a string. “Parvin” and “Sorayyâ,” the Persian and Arabic-derived names for the Pleiades (both of which are now used as feminine proper names) are thus thought of as a necklace (‘eqd) which the heavens may bestow upon a poet in gratitude and reward for composing a beautiful poem. The heavenly gift mirrors the poem itself, which consists of carefully chosen words, bored like unique pearls and threaded in perfect metrical proportion. As Ḥâfeẓ put it:

Heshmat Moayyad (Heshmatollâh Mo’ayyad-e Sanandaji) was born in Hamadan, Iran and traveled widely through the towns and villages of that country in his youth. He earned his B.A. in Persian and Arabic literature from the University of Tehran in 1949 and left for Germany in 1951 to continue his studies in Persian literature, Islamic Studies and German at the University of Frankfurt am Main, where he studied under Hellmut Ritter, completing his Ph.D. in 1958. He began his teaching career in Frankfurt as a Lecturer, and in 1960 moved to the Istituto Universitario Orientale in Naples, Italy, first as a Lecturer, and then as Professore Incaricato, from 1964-65. Heshmat Moayyad first came to the United States as a visiting lecturer at Harvard University in 1962-63, at a time when Persian literature was not yet offered in many universities in this country.