Ali S. Asani

Gits represent a vibrant tradition of literature among Nizari Ismaili communities of South Asian origin. They are the principal literary form through which the individual believer can express religious devotion in a personal voice.

O king bird, do tell us the tale of the heavens:
How is the celebration up there? Is it magnificent?
Surely much more glorious than on the earth:
Full of grandeur are the festivities in paradise.
In the town square of the sky, the moon is smiling.

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From Islam in South Asia in Practice, ed. by Barbara D. Metcalf, Princeton University Press, 2010. Republished here with thanks.