33Books

Bookshelves filled with books and booklets are a ubiquitous sight in tombs. The sacred texts typically include the Qur’an, collections of hadith, pilgrimage texts (ziyarat-nameh), and compilations of prayers and supplications. For a discussion of how books, alongside tasbih (prayer beads) and mohr (clay prayer tablets), are indispensable to pilgrims during ziyarat, please see Sepideh Parsapajouh’s essay in the Ritual gallery.

This photograph: Bookshelf in the tomb of Emamzadeh Yahya Photograph by Hamid Abhari, 2024