Prof. Asani holds a joint appointment between NELC and the Study of Religion. He also serves on thefaculty of the Dept. of Sanskrit and Indian Studies. He has taught atHarvard since 1983, offering instruction in a variety of languagessuch as Urdu/Hindi, Sindhi, Gujaratiand Swahili as well ascourses on various aspects of the Islamic tradition. In addition to hisspecialization in the Muslimliteratures of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Prof. Asani is also interested in Shiism, Sufismand popular or folk forms of Muslim devotional life, and Muslim communities. The title of this lecture is, "Lament of Reed Flute: Love Mysticism in Islamic Tradition."