What do you think?
Rate this book
Theophanies
Theophanies, selected as the Editors Choice for the 2022 Alice James Award, is a testament to women's capacity for piercing and musical exegesis.
What does it mean to have a woman’s body when that body has been hailed a vessel for the divine? Braiding the scriptures of the Qur’an and the Bible, Theophanies explores the complexities and spectacles of gender, faith, and family by unraveling the age-old idea that seeing is believing. Through art and music, Pakistani history, and scriptural stories, these poems speak back against time to the matriarchs of the Abrahamic faiths, the mothers at the heart of sacred history.
Stitched throughout is longing―for mothers, angels, and signs from the divine. In the absence of matrilineal elders in her family, the speaker turns to the archetypal “mother of nations” for whom she is named, Sarah, and her sent-away “sister,” Hajar, to better reckon with her place in the mother line.
What does it mean to have a woman’s body when that body has been hailed a vessel for the divine? Braiding the scriptures of the Qur’an and the Bible, Theophanies explores the complexities and spectacles of gender, faith, and family by unraveling the age-old idea that seeing is believing. Through art and music, Pakistani history, and scriptural stories, these poems speak back against time to the matriarchs of the Abrahamic faiths, the mothers at the heart of sacred history.
Stitched throughout is longing―for mothers, angels, and signs from the divine. In the absence of matrilineal elders in her family, the speaker turns to the archetypal “mother of nations” for whom she is named, Sarah, and her sent-away “sister,” Hajar, to better reckon with her place in the mother line.
100 pages, Paperback
First published January 16, 2024
22 people are currently reading
1022 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Ghazal Ali
2 books40 followersSarah Ghazal Ali is a Pakistani American writer. She is the author of the poetry collection Theophanies (Alice James Books, 2024), winner of the GLCA New Writers Award and a California Book Award, and a finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. A Stadler and Kundiman Fellow, Sarah is the poetry editor for West Branch and an Assistant Professor of English at Macalester College. She lives and teaches in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
June 23, 2023
weaving the holy scriptures of the qur’an and the bible with a kaleidoscope of life experiences, sarah ghazal ali’s theophanies is an astonishingly beautiful debut.
ali takes us on a poetic journey through faith, desire, family, and the way these aspects of life are shaped by the historical, spiritual, and patriarchal expectations placed upon women. she seeks the stories of women of faith and reclaims their place alongside the men who often overshadow them, affording a holy attention to the origins of their names and the history of their experiences as she weaves them with her own.
theophanies is among the most affecting and gorgeous poetry i’ve ever read, and it binds together a history of womanhood into a stunning tapestry of grace, understanding, and companionship for those who came before her and to those who will come after. this is a must-read collection by one of my new favorite poets, and one that will haunt me for a long, long time.
personal favorites include “my faith gets grime under its nails”, “temporal”, “story of the cranes”, “self portrait as epiphany”, “daughter”, and “apotheosis”.
ali takes us on a poetic journey through faith, desire, family, and the way these aspects of life are shaped by the historical, spiritual, and patriarchal expectations placed upon women. she seeks the stories of women of faith and reclaims their place alongside the men who often overshadow them, affording a holy attention to the origins of their names and the history of their experiences as she weaves them with her own.
theophanies is among the most affecting and gorgeous poetry i’ve ever read, and it binds together a history of womanhood into a stunning tapestry of grace, understanding, and companionship for those who came before her and to those who will come after. this is a must-read collection by one of my new favorite poets, and one that will haunt me for a long, long time.
personal favorites include “my faith gets grime under its nails”, “temporal”, “story of the cranes”, “self portrait as epiphany”, “daughter”, and “apotheosis”.
Read
April 2, 2024At once scathing and tender, Sarah Ghazal Ali’s "Theophanies” dances between devotion and blasphemy. Ali writes in the style of the Urdu ghazal, which have a lauded tradition in Urdu poetry, with phrases so rich and elegant they are known to inspire tears and applause from the crowds that gather to hear them. Ali does tremendous justice to this tradition, with heart-wrenching poems that are deeply profound yet accessible.
Ali mixes modern feminist sensibilities with centuries-old narratives of religious history that have always been told through the male gaze. She inserts herself into the stories of female saints of Islam and Christianity, a modern voyeur who links her personal past to navigate their shared sisterhood and lack of agency as they obeyed God’s command.
Ali also poses challenging, perhaps even controversial, questions to scripture: can the brutality of animal sacrifice truly be a celebration? How is a father’s supreme familial position diminished when he mistreats his wife? In other poems, she delves into themes of pre-marital sex, suicide, and women's powerlessness and subordination. She also veers into politics, not shying from a female take on Pakistan’s origin story.
Her poetry is disturbing and thought-provoking, yet her faith does not waver. Her work brings believers of the same God together, while still allowing room to question.This is the kind of feminist poetry that you want to read and re-read, each time peeling back layer after layer of meaning. A cultural commentary as much as a religious one, and personal enough to connect with the reader's own heart, as it did mine.
Ali mixes modern feminist sensibilities with centuries-old narratives of religious history that have always been told through the male gaze. She inserts herself into the stories of female saints of Islam and Christianity, a modern voyeur who links her personal past to navigate their shared sisterhood and lack of agency as they obeyed God’s command.
Ali also poses challenging, perhaps even controversial, questions to scripture: can the brutality of animal sacrifice truly be a celebration? How is a father’s supreme familial position diminished when he mistreats his wife? In other poems, she delves into themes of pre-marital sex, suicide, and women's powerlessness and subordination. She also veers into politics, not shying from a female take on Pakistan’s origin story.
Her poetry is disturbing and thought-provoking, yet her faith does not waver. Her work brings believers of the same God together, while still allowing room to question.This is the kind of feminist poetry that you want to read and re-read, each time peeling back layer after layer of meaning. A cultural commentary as much as a religious one, and personal enough to connect with the reader's own heart, as it did mine.
January 29, 2025
was not particularly bowled over by this collection, but that’s largely a matter of personal taste!
May 13, 2024
While this is a beautiful debut collection, I admit that I found Theophanies rather difficult to read. This is not the fault of Ali by any means and is more of a me problem, specifically that I didn’t understand a lot of the religious and cultural references. This did impact my overall enjoyment to some extent, though I learned a fair bit as I reflected alongside the poet.
My understanding is that Ali was following the ghazal form for a handful of these poems, which is often found in Arab and Central Asian poetry. Perhaps more importantly, though, are the recurring themes in this collection. From what I was able to gather, she took particular interest in a modern exploration of womanhood in relation to faith and spirituality (gesturing especially toward the Quran and the Bible). I was really taken to Ali’s command of language, even if I didn’t fully follow what she was referencing.
I think these poems will really resonate with those who are deeply familiar with the Quran and/or the Bible. I have no doubt that this is a richly layered collection that will be greatly appreciated by those who will understand the references.
My understanding is that Ali was following the ghazal form for a handful of these poems, which is often found in Arab and Central Asian poetry. Perhaps more importantly, though, are the recurring themes in this collection. From what I was able to gather, she took particular interest in a modern exploration of womanhood in relation to faith and spirituality (gesturing especially toward the Quran and the Bible). I was really taken to Ali’s command of language, even if I didn’t fully follow what she was referencing.
I think these poems will really resonate with those who are deeply familiar with the Quran and/or the Bible. I have no doubt that this is a richly layered collection that will be greatly appreciated by those who will understand the references.
April 11, 2024
“I have no interest in the aviary
you keep of my names. The one bright
gift of my life is that I was
witnessed. The only thing
God asks of me is to bear it.”
- “Magdalene Diptych”
I took a stab in the dark with this one after the cover caught my eye in the library, and it turned out to be well worth the read. Theophanies artfully juxtaposes Quranic and biblical consciousness, drawing creative breath from the women of sacred history—Sarah, Hajar, Maryam, Magdalene—and shaping it into a lithe, evocative, visceral, honest, and tastefully sensuous poetic voice; a vision (vision itself being an important theme) that compellingly navigates the interstices of earnest spiritual devotion and the so-called “profane” experiences of incarnate life—particularly life as a woman. Perhaps the best praise I can give is that I found it surprisingly relatable, despite my having practically nothing in common with the author. Among my personal favorites of the collection are “Temporal,” “Daughter Triptych,” “The Guest,” and (first place for me) “Magdalene Diptych”.
you keep of my names. The one bright
gift of my life is that I was
witnessed. The only thing
God asks of me is to bear it.”
- “Magdalene Diptych”
I took a stab in the dark with this one after the cover caught my eye in the library, and it turned out to be well worth the read. Theophanies artfully juxtaposes Quranic and biblical consciousness, drawing creative breath from the women of sacred history—Sarah, Hajar, Maryam, Magdalene—and shaping it into a lithe, evocative, visceral, honest, and tastefully sensuous poetic voice; a vision (vision itself being an important theme) that compellingly navigates the interstices of earnest spiritual devotion and the so-called “profane” experiences of incarnate life—particularly life as a woman. Perhaps the best praise I can give is that I found it surprisingly relatable, despite my having practically nothing in common with the author. Among my personal favorites of the collection are “Temporal,” “Daughter Triptych,” “The Guest,” and (first place for me) “Magdalene Diptych”.
January 18, 2024
my interview with Sarah on her incredible collection: https://chireviewofbooks.com/2024/01/...
we discussed language and its limits, faith, writing into silences, and much more. this immediately became one of my favorite collections of poetry masha'Allah.
the poems weave together partition, Ibrahim, Sarah, Hagar, Maryam, Christ, peace be upon them all, the Prophet ﷺ, Mary Magdalene, embodied faith, womanhood and motherhood, the Qur’an, the Bible, ghazals, and more.
we discussed language and its limits, faith, writing into silences, and much more. this immediately became one of my favorite collections of poetry masha'Allah.
the poems weave together partition, Ibrahim, Sarah, Hagar, Maryam, Christ, peace be upon them all, the Prophet ﷺ, Mary Magdalene, embodied faith, womanhood and motherhood, the Qur’an, the Bible, ghazals, and more.
June 5, 2024
An ambitious debut poetry collection with Quaranic and Biblical references. The persona poems of Magdalene and Hajar follow the thread of matrilineage. Women are mentioned, witnessed and honored in this collection and men mentioned only in passing, almost as a means to reverse the language of redactions in the original religious texts. It is an interesting concept and I love that it challenges the very grounds of what many religions indoctrinate about women and the feminine.
The language in these poems is wonderful and fluid. But there were many times I felt untethered and ungrounded on the setting of these poems. It is possible I lack the religious background to fully understand all the stories referenced, but that does not mean I didnt enjoy this collection. Rather, I found these poems as a starting point to maze through and learn more, to ask questions and to ponder.
Poems of note:
Fatal Music
Le Viol, Rene Magritte, 1934
Magdalene Diptych
The language in these poems is wonderful and fluid. But there were many times I felt untethered and ungrounded on the setting of these poems. It is possible I lack the religious background to fully understand all the stories referenced, but that does not mean I didnt enjoy this collection. Rather, I found these poems as a starting point to maze through and learn more, to ask questions and to ponder.
Poems of note:
Fatal Music
Le Viol, Rene Magritte, 1934
Magdalene Diptych
May 14, 2024
Evocative and beautiful, Sarah Ghazal Ali’s Theophanies is full of rich and heady prose. Exploring themes of life, death, birth, sex, violence, womanhood, and faith, each poem and each line and each word is written with care and thought, and intention. Ali is unafraid to experiment, making bold and brilliant choices in style and phrase, leading to a unique and engaging reading experience. Each word had weight, like you could roll it around in your mouth. I was impressed with this work, and I can’t wait to read more prose from the author.
January 29, 2024
sarah ghazal ali has such brilliant talent
dnf
June 3, 2025dnf, poetry collection, 36 of 2025, (jun. 2)
Ummmmm, palatable? felt like something white liberal apologists would enjoy (because it comes from the equivalence of islamic liberal?). but maybe i just don't understand, i'm not familiar with the form or the content, and i didn't even read it closely. I picked it up because it was in the new book catalog and had such a high rating.
The sentiments here strike me as not much different from those commonly expressed by first-generation children of the diaspora; they mostly involve struggles to connect with their Heritage™ (while stay largely unaware and perform for the White Gaze). I'm not saying it's unimportant or uninteresting—just that I've seen so much of it.
In "the West," hair covering/headscarf sits awkwardly among religious teaching, patriarchal oppression, femme body (non-)autonomy, identities of belonging, and contradictory social expectations. Is it subversive to wear it? Is it subversive not to? Whose rules are you following when you do, and whose when you don’t? It’s a whole mess I’m still trying to untangle. This book (which I skimmed) answers none of my questions.
As I mentioned "white liberals," my current hypothesis is: at best, they might want to see people inhabiting alternative belief/culture-informed systems as resistance to homogenization under capitalism and imperialism—which they themselves find alienating and oppressive. At worst, they might want to see minorities "know their place," not act confused (by which i mean not to confuse them with assimilation and chameleoning), and perform acceptance of values that align with their own, such as the unquestionable inheritance of culture, family, and meritocracy.
Ummmmm, palatable? felt like something white liberal apologists would enjoy (because it comes from the equivalence of islamic liberal?). but maybe i just don't understand, i'm not familiar with the form or the content, and i didn't even read it closely. I picked it up because it was in the new book catalog and had such a high rating.
The sentiments here strike me as not much different from those commonly expressed by first-generation children of the diaspora; they mostly involve struggles to connect with their Heritage™ (while stay largely unaware and perform for the White Gaze). I'm not saying it's unimportant or uninteresting—just that I've seen so much of it.
In "the West," hair covering/headscarf sits awkwardly among religious teaching, patriarchal oppression, femme body (non-)autonomy, identities of belonging, and contradictory social expectations. Is it subversive to wear it? Is it subversive not to? Whose rules are you following when you do, and whose when you don’t? It’s a whole mess I’m still trying to untangle. This book (which I skimmed) answers none of my questions.
As I mentioned "white liberals," my current hypothesis is: at best, they might want to see people inhabiting alternative belief/culture-informed systems as resistance to homogenization under capitalism and imperialism—which they themselves find alienating and oppressive. At worst, they might want to see minorities "know their place," not act confused (by which i mean not to confuse them with assimilation and chameleoning), and perform acceptance of values that align with their own, such as the unquestionable inheritance of culture, family, and meritocracy.
December 11, 2025
I took my time with this one- couldn't be helped. It's not an easy one to get through, which is why I withhold that 1 remaining star. I am too lowbrow for Sarah Ghazal Ali, and that is okay. What I will say is that I've never read anything like this. This is the closest thing to elegy, the closest to a dirge, that you can have in this day and age. Ali is transcendent. As a Muslim, I am overcome by her relationship to her faith, to her body and mind, to her soul and her history. Theophanies is a strange phenomenological rupture- it is intensely modern in its provocations and yet, reminiscent of the classics in its sensibilities. This is why I advocate for poetry- one does not have to understand every word to be able to sense the thrum of something powerful, both on the page and within. Absolutely extraordinary.
December 20, 2024
reminds me of one of my favorite pieces of poetry:
جام جب پینے لگا منہ سے کہا بسم اللّہ
یہ نہ سمجھے کوئی رندوں کو خدا یاد نہیں
As I drank from the chalice, my lips uttered “In the name of Allah”
So that no one may think that drunkards tend to forget God
- Jigar Moradabadi (جگر مراد آبادی)
جام جب پینے لگا منہ سے کہا بسم اللّہ
یہ نہ سمجھے کوئی رندوں کو خدا یاد نہیں
As I drank from the chalice, my lips uttered “In the name of Allah”
So that no one may think that drunkards tend to forget God
- Jigar Moradabadi (جگر مراد آبادی)
September 24, 2025
Stunning!
This collection, and each poem within it, has something to say. I found the poems and perspectives unique yet attuned to the archetypes and characters who appear in them.
A favorite of mine for sure!
This collection, and each poem within it, has something to say. I found the poems and perspectives unique yet attuned to the archetypes and characters who appear in them.
A favorite of mine for sure!
October 11, 2025
2.5 ⭐ As I told a friend, a surprisingly bloody book haha. Doing interesting things related to womanhood and female anatomy, taking on a religious lens. Pulling on religious figures seems like an obvious choice, but Ali finds new meaning in these well-known stories
September 19, 2024
My favorite poems are: "Annunciation", "Motherhood 1999", "Apotheosis", and "O Gabriel."
January 27, 2026
I want to take a class on Islam so I can better understand the history and references in the work of Muslim poets I read 🥲
July 27, 2024
A nice Friday night read. I found some of the poems very beautifully written and as I got to know the voice, I really liked her way of thinking things through the lines. I found some of the more experimental forms or those more closely aligned with formal constraints a bit more interesting. There was a tendency toward drama or something that bugs me… pending book club for final thoughts.
August 22, 2024
This was due at the library before I finished it but I plan to buy a copy and read it again, and expect to change my rating to five stars.
The poems are so clear, vivid, visceral and delicate. I love the tenderness and yearning in many of them.
The poems are so clear, vivid, visceral and delicate. I love the tenderness and yearning in many of them.
May 11, 2024
Deserves in-depth analysis. Beautiful and bittersweet handling of faith, family, being a woman, and not necessarily fitting her cultural norm.
August 27, 2024
This book is absolute fire! Many times when I read poems that have a religious tie-in they have a more surreal focus. But Sarah does something that is sacred in its own way by examining what it means to be a woman apart from the divine, but also crafted from it, and how that reflects the daily life and expectations within the gender. It’s absolutely stunning, and if you haven’t read her poem, “My Faith Gets Grime under Its Nails” please go google it. Every time I read it I get chills. I was going to include it here, but I wanted to share a couple of other poems that I tabbed. If you haven’t picked this book up yet definitely add it to your list, grab it from your favorite retailer, and request it at your local library. It is easily a favorite of mine.
February 26, 2024
Theophanies is aptly named--this is a book that distills the divine into tangible, domestic moments. We see a multitude of women(who are in some ways, a singular, mythological woman, "aurat") move through domains most familiar and mundane to them, following them across birth, childhood, marriage, doctor's offices and back again, to birth. Woven into these domestic spaces is defiance, grief, love, rage, longing, awe, and even horror. Ali's language moves exquisitely through all these interwoven narratives:
"From beyond scripture,/she returns to crawl
through my throat.Her involuntary sound
a revelation/I'm frightened. I'm awestruck." - Temporal
"all my rooms are greening in wait
pull back my fallen shroud
see how well I bear the burden
a child
come sigh
for once in me" - O Gabriel
This is truly a book of poems were one bleeds into the next effortlessly, and many storylines overlap so it's difficult to pick favorites, but some of the poems I return to most often are the 'Story of the Cranes", "Magdalene", and "Matrilineal (Recovered)". This is genuinely the most devastating and imaginative book of poems I've encountered in a minute, will definitely be keeping tabs on this poet's forthcoming work.
"From beyond scripture,/she returns to crawl
through my throat.Her involuntary sound
a revelation/I'm frightened. I'm awestruck." - Temporal
"all my rooms are greening in wait
pull back my fallen shroud
see how well I bear the burden
a child
come sigh
for once in me" - O Gabriel
This is truly a book of poems were one bleeds into the next effortlessly, and many storylines overlap so it's difficult to pick favorites, but some of the poems I return to most often are the 'Story of the Cranes", "Magdalene", and "Matrilineal (Recovered)". This is genuinely the most devastating and imaginative book of poems I've encountered in a minute, will definitely be keeping tabs on this poet's forthcoming work.
February 13, 2024
favorite lines:
I confess to sleeping coiled on my night-blue prayer mat // more often than standing bent in ruku
I can't help but bear // what barely belongs to me
how a pen bleeds to grant shape to speech
if God willed, I'd live wholly // without want
in good towns, good houses mourn what dies // outside by closing windows
some mornings blood falls // it hardly bears repeating
I revised myself
"inhumation"
i have watched crimes of looking blur // into taking // i have been a stone chosen for its smoothness // then hurled against the skin of the sea
I fell heir to my father's hands, anguish, eyes -
they tell me in that garden // he saw every imminent sin // so he must have known, before // I did, all you would come to think of me
I have no interest in the aviary // you keep of my names
faith follows me like this. Never heavy, and whole with or without me
believe me // i barely believed
i've learned to cull want // from wait // to walk until water appears
I confess to sleeping coiled on my night-blue prayer mat // more often than standing bent in ruku
I can't help but bear // what barely belongs to me
how a pen bleeds to grant shape to speech
if God willed, I'd live wholly // without want
in good towns, good houses mourn what dies // outside by closing windows
some mornings blood falls // it hardly bears repeating
I revised myself
"inhumation"
i have watched crimes of looking blur // into taking // i have been a stone chosen for its smoothness // then hurled against the skin of the sea
I fell heir to my father's hands, anguish, eyes -
they tell me in that garden // he saw every imminent sin // so he must have known, before // I did, all you would come to think of me
I have no interest in the aviary // you keep of my names
faith follows me like this. Never heavy, and whole with or without me
believe me // i barely believed
i've learned to cull want // from wait // to walk until water appears
March 30, 2024
love the religious elements. so relatable so real
January 23, 2024
I’ve been excited to read this chapbook since Ali’s article “the pen the throat the ear: on ghazals” published in Poetry Magazine. Ali has shown herself to be a masterful poet. I cannot wait for more of her work though I will be rereading her old works to keep me occupied til then.
Favorite lines: “How hungry my gaze is to swell, but the angels are indifferent to me.”
“Land of the Pious, pigless, and pissed-upon.”
Favorite poem: “When Nabra Hassanen Wakes Up In Jannah”
Favorite lines: “How hungry my gaze is to swell, but the angels are indifferent to me.”
“Land of the Pious, pigless, and pissed-upon.”
Favorite poem: “When Nabra Hassanen Wakes Up In Jannah”
August 26, 2023
review incoming
February 1, 2024
A lovely human, embodied exploration of faith. “The one bright / gift of my life is that I was / witnessed. The only thing / God asks of me is to bear it.”
February 17, 2024
“Desire made a door of me / and I kept it ajar.” Gorgeous.
February 14, 2025
A beautiful debut collection.
March 2, 2024
What a powerful, gripping, and insightful poetry collection! Precise in its construction and abundant in its language, images, reference, and metaphors.
What a debut.
What a debut.
August 9, 2025
"Like God, I'll create in my image. Go on, pass judgment/—like I'm not already waiting for judgment..."
Overshadowed by the Virgin Mary, Abraham's wife Sarah is something of a neglected figure, but Ali finds startling depth in her life story and the other marginalised women of the Abrahamic canon. I'll admit that it took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that Ali's interest in Sarah might have something to do with her first name: the Biblical Sarah becomes a prism that connects the thematic rays—theology, womanhood, Urdu poetic traditions, the partition and history of Pakistan—throughout this collection.
While Ali's poetic and historical allusions often escape me, her poetry possesses a wonderful sense of rhythm that makes it affecting even when its content is obscure. The repetition and rhyme of "judgment" in the extract of "Ghazal on the Day of" that I've quoted is only the beginning of how Ali layers assonance, near-rhyme, and alliteration ("tease/taunt/turn", for instance) to complicate the rhythmic effects of a deceptively simple and declarative poem. This stylistic experimentation is displayed more overtly in "Martilineage [Recovered]", arranged in the form of a family tree, with words branching off from each other. However, as someone with a taste for theology, my favourite pieces were probably "Mother of Nations", "Magdalene", "Annunciation", and the straightforward but incisive cultural commentary of "Litany with Hair".
Overshadowed by the Virgin Mary, Abraham's wife Sarah is something of a neglected figure, but Ali finds startling depth in her life story and the other marginalised women of the Abrahamic canon. I'll admit that it took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that Ali's interest in Sarah might have something to do with her first name: the Biblical Sarah becomes a prism that connects the thematic rays—theology, womanhood, Urdu poetic traditions, the partition and history of Pakistan—throughout this collection.
While Ali's poetic and historical allusions often escape me, her poetry possesses a wonderful sense of rhythm that makes it affecting even when its content is obscure. The repetition and rhyme of "judgment" in the extract of "Ghazal on the Day of" that I've quoted is only the beginning of how Ali layers assonance, near-rhyme, and alliteration ("tease/taunt/turn", for instance) to complicate the rhythmic effects of a deceptively simple and declarative poem. This stylistic experimentation is displayed more overtly in "Martilineage [Recovered]", arranged in the form of a family tree, with words branching off from each other. However, as someone with a taste for theology, my favourite pieces were probably "Mother of Nations", "Magdalene", "Annunciation", and the straightforward but incisive cultural commentary of "Litany with Hair".
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews