Nerina Rustomji is an Associate Professor of History at St. John's University. She specializes in the intellectual and cultural formation of Islamic societies and the Middle East. Her first book The Garden and the Fire: Heaven and Hell in Islamic Culture narrates a history of heaven and hell in Islamic texts, material cultures, and book arts from the seventh century C.E. project. The Beauty of the Houri received fellowship support from the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan, and The New York Public Library.