Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
1260/1844, Moral lessons through bird stories written in the Shikastah-Nasta'liq by the calligrapher Muhammad Valikhan Khattat, Qajar era.
- Dimensions of Written Surface: 18 (w) x 9 (h) cm
- These moralizing verses are written both vertically and horizontally in black shikastah-nasta'liq script on a white piece of paper. The verses are divided by red lines. The text panel is pasted to a green piece of paper backed by cardboard and framed by a border heavily damaged by worm holes. In the lower right corner of the text panel, the calligrapher Muhammad Valikhan Khattat ("the calligrapher"), known as Chalaq ("the Speedy One"), has signed his work. He also notes that it was completed in 1260/1844. From this information, one may hypothesize that this certain Muhammad Valikhan Khattat was a swift writer active in Iran during the mid-19th century.
- This calligraphic fragment includes verses providing two separate stories whose protagonists are birds. The first narrative describes two falcons in the desert talking about whether to join the king. The smart one refuses because he notes that freedom is better than service, even to a royal patron. The second story describes a hunter about to shoot a small bird. The latter prays to God to save it, at which time the hunter begins to tremble and his arrow misses the bird. Through God's intercession, the prey is saved from an untimely death.
- Script: shikastah-nasta'liq
Colophon of "Makhzan al-Asrar"; title page of "Khusraw va Shirin"
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Colophon of "Makhzan al-Asrar"; title page of "Khusraw va Shirin"
Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
1550-1600, Colophon of "Makhzan al-Asrar"; title page of "Khusraw va Shirin" from the Nizami's Khamsah, Shirazi style Safavid Persian illuminated manuscript in Nasta'liq script.
- Dimensions of Written Surface: Recto:12.1 (w) x 14.9 (h) cm. Dimensions of Written Surface: Verso: 12 9 (w) x 21 (h) cm
- Nine other folios from the same manuscript --mostly initial and terminal folios of the various books (kitab) from the "Khamsah", as well as one painting from the story of Laylah wa Majnun -- are held in the Library of Congress as well. These bear the same nasta'liq script at 20 lines in 4 columns/page within a similar written surface size of c. 12 (w) x 21 (h) cm. The folios are: 1-85-154.1a R & V, 1-85-154.1b R & V, 1-85-154.2a R, 1-85-154.2b R & V, and 1-86-154.123 R (painting) & V.
- The "Makhzan al-Asrar" is a didactic-philosophical work and does not consist of epic or romantic tales like those in the following four books of the "Khamsah". It includes a number of stories about kings and rulers, with several moral lessons to be learned.
- The final lines of the "Makhzan al-Asrar" on this folio are executed in a carpet-page format, i.e. in alternating horizontal and diagonal lines with illuminated decoration in the remnant triangular or rectangular spaces. At the very bottom of the folio appears the work's colophon, which states that the book "Makhzan al-Asrar" was finished thanks to the grace of God. Unfortunately, the colophon gives neither the date of the book's completion nor the name of the calligrapher.
- The illuminated title page here includes the book's heading written in white ink, which reads: "Kitab-i Khusraw va Shirin, Shaykh Nizami." The title appears on a gold background decorated with red and blue flowers. All around the title panel and the written surface appear bands of illuminated decoration on either a gold or blue background. On the back of this folio appear the last lines of the previous book, i.e. "Makhzan al-Asrar" (The Treasury of Secrets), whose colophon unfortunately does not specify the place or date of completion (see 1-84-154.2a R).
- The illumination, text layout, and nasta'liq script are typical of manuscripts made in the city of Shiraz during the second half of the sixteenth century. Many Safavid Persian manuscripts at this time were produced for the domestic market and international export, rather than by royal commission.
- The story of "Khusraw va Shirin" narrates the love relationship of the last great Sasanian ruler, Khusraw Parviz (590-628 A.D.) and his beautiful mistress Shirin. Many of the episodes in this story revolve around the complications caused by the king's ruses and his mistress' strength and faithfulness. Exceptionally understanding of women's personalities, there is no doubt that the character of Shirin was based on Nizami's own wife (for the story of "Khusraw va Shirin", see P. Chelkowski et al, "Mirror of the Invisible World: Tales from the Khamseh of Nizami" [New York, 1975]: 21-48).
- This folio contains the illuminated title page of the second book of Nizami's "Khamsah" (Quintet), entitled "Khusraw va Shirin", and the colophon of the preceding work, "Makhzan al-Asrar" (The Treasury of Secrets). Written during the last few decades of the 12th century A.D., the "Khamsah" consists of five books (kitab) written in rhyming distichs (mathnavi). Along with Firdawsi's "Shahnamah" (Book of Kings), the "Khamsah" stands out as one of the great monuments of medieval Persian poetry. Both works were oftentimes produced in manuscript form and provided with attendant paintings.
- Script: nasta'liq
Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
17th century, Mughal style decorative borders with verses composed by the famous Persian poet Hafiz (d. 791/1388-9). Written Nasta'liq script in the 17th Cent.
- Dimensions of Written Surface: Recto: 11.4 (w) x 19.5 (h) cm. Dimensions of Written Surface: Verso: 13 (w) x 19.5 (h) cm
- Hafiz warns of the transience and fickleness of this world (literally, an old hag or 'ajuza), and argues that those who imbibe the last dregs or essence (durd) of wine have the spiritual understanding of what is true and permanent.
- I give you advice: learn it and do it / Because I remember that this (advice) came from the leader of my spiritual order. / Don't expect this unsteady world to be faithful / Because this old hag was a bride to a thousand husbands. / Go, devout one, and do not reprimand the drinkers.
- Nasihati kunamat yadgir u dar 'amal an / Kain hadis za pir-i tariqatam yad ast / Maju durusti-yi 'ahd az jahan sust nahad / Kain 'ajuza 'arus-i hazar damad ast / Buru malamat-i durdi kashan makun zahid
- The five verses written horizontally on the illuminated panel read:
- The recto of this calligraphic fragment includes verses composed by the famous Persian poet Hafiz (d. 791/1388-9), as well as a number of other verses framed in rectangular bands along the inner border of the central panel. Every line of calligraphy is cut out and pasted individually onto the fragment's illuminated background. The verses are framed by white and blue borders decorated with gold flower and leaf motifs, and pasted onto an orange paper painted in gold and provided with ornamental medallions containing pink and white flowers. This fragment's decoration, much like the pattern on the fragment's verso (1-88-154.41 V), is typical of Mughal book arts of the 17th century.
- The verso of this fragment has a decorative border similar to the recto; however, the verso is devoid of text. The illuminated frame is pasted to a paper decorated with yellow flowers perhaps intended to represent blooming saffron flowers (although the petals of saffron flowers tend to be of a light purple color). This pattern of yellow-orange flowers appears on an otherwise unrelated calligraphic fragment in the Library of Congress (see 1-04-713.19.26), suggesting that both works may have originated from the same atelier. The latter work, the first page of a copy of Sa'di's Bustan, is believed to have been made in India during the 17th century.
- Script: nasta'liq
Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
16th century, From Jami's "Nafahat al-Uns" (Lives of the Saints), manuscript pages written in Persian Nasta'liq script from the Shaybanid court of Central Asia.
- Dimensions of Written Surface: 7.2 (w) x 13.1 (h) cm
- The Persian verses are written in black nasta'liq script in two columns on a beige paper. Verses are divided by a plain central gutter marked off by two gold vertical lines. An illuminated chapter heading towards the bottom of the text panel includes the section title about Sari Saqati written in white ink on a gold background.
- The text panel is framed and pasted onto a larger sheet of paper decorated with flower and leaf motifs on a blue ground achieved through the use of a pounce. This kind of marginal decoration is found in a number of 16th-century manuscripts produced under Shaybanid patronage in Bukhara (in modern-day Uzbekistan) from ca. 1500-1550 (Gray 1979: 248-272). Other manuscripts, such as a copy of Bitikji's "Athar-i Muzaffar" made in 975/1568 (Topkapi Palace Library H. 1233), also makes use of pounced motifs as marginal decoration. For these reasons, it is possible to suggest that this manuscript was produced in Central Asia during the 16th century.
- This calligraphic fragment includes a section from Jami's (d. 897/1492) hagiographical work entitled "Nafahat al-Uns" (Lives of the Saints), in which the lives of a number of Sufi saints are described. In this particular folio and its verso (1-88-154.119 V), Jami describes an event in the life of the Sufi shaykh Sari Saqati (d. 867). He was the teacher and maternal uncle of the famous mystic Junayd of Baghdad (d. 910) and composed many sayings on mystical unity (tawhid), love of God, and other spiritual matters. The biography is continued on the verso of this folio.
- Script: nasta'liq
Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
16th-17th centuries, Persian verses by Baba Tahir, 11th-century Persian poet, written in black nasta'liq script in the 16th- or 17th- century Iran.
- Dimensions of Written Surface: 13 (w) x 21 (h) cm
- I am that ant which is crushed underfoot / Not the bee from whose sting they suffer
- Man u murum ka dar payam bamaland / Na zanburum ka az nasham banaland
- Other Persian verses appear both above and below the central panel, and in the left vertical a register contains an elaborate prose prayer (du'a) wishing a king prosperity and happiness.
- The fragment is neither dated nor signed. However, it appears to have been produced in 16th- or 17th- century Iran and placed later into an album (muraqqa') of calligraphies.
- The texts are executed in black nasta'liq script on variously colored papers decorated with designs in gold paint, cut out individually and pasted together into one composition. Triangular areas left empty by the intersection of diagonal lines of text and rectangular frames are filled with blue and gold illumination. The whole text panel is pasted to a larger sheet of cream-colored paper decorated with gold flecks and backed with cardboard.
- This calligraphic fragment includes various excerpts in both prose and verse. In the central blue panel, verses by the 11th-century Persian poet Baba Tahir describe his helplessness and inferiority:
- Script: nasta'liq
Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
16th-17th centuries, From Nizami's classic book "Khamsah" (Quintet) the tale of "Khusraw va Shirin" Illuminated manuscript from Iran written in Nast'aliq script.
- Above and below the composition appear the attending verses written in black nasta'liq script in four columns. The text is framed by cloud bands and appears on a gold background decorated with blue and red flowers. The entire text and painting panel is framed by variously colored borders and is pasted to a larger sheet of cream-colored paper.
- Another painting from another manuscript of Nizami's "Khusraw va Shirin" is held in the collections of the Library of Congress. It depicts King Khusraw in battle (see 1-87-154.124 R & V).
- Dimensions of Written Surface: 12 (w) x 21 (h) cm
- On the verso the text is written in black nasta'liq script in four columns and separated by gold gutters decorated with black dots. An illuminated chapter heading in the center of the text panel includes the title of the section, in which Khusraw and Shirin sit together. The text panel is framed by variously colored borders and is pasted to a larger sheet of cream-colored paper.
- The painting follows the text very closely by depicting Shirin and her attendants still in the pavilion and King Khusraw killing the lion with his bare hands. The painting's style resembles manuscripts produced for the market in Iran during the 16th and 17th centuries. The verso of this page describes Khusraw's killing of the lion.
- The text's layout and the painting's style (on the recto) are found in manuscripts produced for the market in Iran during the 16th and 17th centuries.
- This painting depicts an episode from the third book of Nizami's "Khamsah" (Quintet) entitled "Khusraw va Shirin". In this book, the adventures and battles of the Persian king Khusraw are described, as is his love for the Armenian princess Shirin. At a feast one day, Khusraw and Shirin were sitting and drinking together (as described on the folio's verso, 1-04-713.19.2 V) when suddenly a lion approached the royal pavilion. Thereupon, the king, albeit drunk, made a fist, hit the lion in the ear, and killed it on the spot.
- Script: nasta'liq
Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
1550-1600, "Khusraw va Shirin" from the Nizami's Khamsah, Shirazi style Safavid Persian illuminated manuscript in Nasta'liq script.
- At the beginning of each book (kitab) of the "Khamsah", the author praises God and His Unity (typically entitled dar tawhid, or "On Unity"). This first section is then followed, as seen on this folio, by examining the proof (istidlal) of God's presence and praising the Exalted Creator (dar munajat-i Bari ta'ala).
- Dimensions of Written Surface: Recto: 12.2 (w) x 21 (h) cm. Dimensions of Written Surface: Verso: 12 (w) x 21.7 (h) cm
- Nine other folios from the same manuscript -- mostly initial and terminal folios of the various books (kitab) from the "Khamsah", as well as one painting from the story of Laylah wa Majnun -- are held in the Library of Congress as well. These bear the same nasta'liq script at 20 lines in 4 columns/page within a similar written surface size of ca. 12 (w) x 21 (h) cm. The folios are: 1-85-154.1a R & V, 1-85-154.1b R & V, 1-85-154.2a R & V, 1-85-154.2b V, and 1-86-154.123 R (painting) & V.
- The illumination, text layout, and nasta'liq script are typical of manuscripts made in the city of Shiraz during the second half of the 16th century. Many Safavid Persian manuscripts at this time were produced for the domestic market and international export, rather than by royal commission.
- The story of "Khusraw va Shirin" narrates the love relationship of the last great Sasanian ruler, Khusraw Parviz (590-628 A.D.) and his beautiful mistress Shirin. Many of the episodes in this story revolve around the complications caused by the king's ruses and his mistress' strength and faithfulness. Exceptionally understanding of women's personalities, there is no doubt that the personality of Shirin was based on Nizami's own wife (for the story of "Khusraw va Shirin" see "P. Chelkowski et al, Mirror of the Invisible World: Tales from the Khamseh of Nizami" [New York, 1975]: 21-48).
- This illuminated folio contains the introductory praise to God and His Unity (dar tawhid-i Bari, or "On the Unity of the Creator") of Nizami's second book of his "Khamsah" (Quintet), entitled "Khusraw va Shirin". It continues the text of the first two folios of the book, also located in the Library of Congress (1-84-154.2a R & V), and thus completes the praise of God typically found at the beginning of each book (kitab) of the "Khamsah".
- Script: nasta'liq
Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
18th century, A friend's letter written in a fine shikastah-nasta'liq script typical of 18th-century compositions from Iran.
- Because it's been a very long time / That I haven't (been able) to write a worthy letter, / Because a friend among friends wants to write to / Kind people to find out how they are doing...
- Chun muddat-i mutanahi-st / Ka bi-tahriri ka qabil bashad napardakht / Chun az an dusti az dustan bi-jihat-i kasan-i / Muhabbat tu'aman juya-yi ahvalat farmud...
- Dimensions of Written Surface: 10.2 (w) x 16.6 (h) cm
- This calligraphic fragment provides an incomplete letter from a man to his friend written in a fine shikastah-nasta'liq script typical of 18th-century compositions from Persia (Iran). Framed by cloud bands and placed on a gold background with blue vine motifs, the text is comprised of four lines. Beginning with an invocation to God ("huwa," or He) in the top right corner, the letter continues:
- Script: shikastah-nasta'liq
Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
early 17th century, Quatrain praising vision written in Nasta'liq script by the writer (al-katib) Mas'ud al-Tabib who traveled through, Iran, Afghanistan to India.
- Dil jaya gham u dida makan-i gawhar ast / Ya'ni gawhar-i vasl-i tu dar chasm tar ast / Dar dil gham u dar dida khayal-i tu dar ast / Zan ruy za dil dida am abadtar ast
- Dimensions of Written Surface: 15.9 (w) cm x 24.5 (h) cm
- In the lower left corner, the writer (al-katib) Mas'ud al-Tabib has signed his name, along with his diminutive epithets "the weak, the smallest of servants" (al-da'if aqall al-'ibad). The calligrapher's full name was Rukn al-Din Mas'ud al-Tabib, and he was known as a master of the nasta'liq style. Rukn al-Din was nicknamed al-Tabib ("the doctor") as he came from a long line of royal physicians and he himself held high position at the court (divan) of Shah 'Abbas I (r. 1587-1629) in Isfahan (Qadi Ahmad 1959: 169-170). However, since the ruler did not get well after a bout of illness, he requested that Rukn al-Din reimburse his salary and forced him to leave the capital city. The calligrapher headed to Mashhad (northeastern Iran), from where he then journeyed to Balkh (modern-day Afghanistan) and eventually arrived in India (Huart 1972, 221).
- One other calligraphic sample by Rukn al-Din Mas'ud al-Tabib is held in the collections of the Library of Congress: see 1-88-154.153
- The heart is a place of sadness and the eye is the site of essence / That means the essence of your arrival is in the wet eye / In the heart (is) sadness and in the eye is the imagining of you / Because my eye is more refined than my heart
- The poet describes his crying ("wet eye") upon seeing his beloved, attempting to show that visual imagination is more sensible and responsive than the heart.
- This calligraphic fragment includes a quatrain, or ruba'i, praising vision as the most keen of the human senses. The text is written in black nasta'liq script on a beige paper decorated with gold paint. The text panel is framed by two borders in beige and gold and pasted to a blue paper decorated with gold flower and vine motifs. Beginning with an invocation to God as the Glorified (huwa al-mu'izz), the verses read:
- Script: nasta'liq
Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
17th century, Persian quatrain, or ruba'i, describing competition for the loved one, in black Nasta'liq script by the calligrapher Hasan Shamlu (d. ca.1666-7) Iran.
- An kas ka bi-dast jam darad / 'Aysh u tarab-i mudam darad / Ma u may u zahidan u taqva / Ta yar sar-i kudam darad
- Dimensions of Written Surface: 8.3 (w) x 16 (h) cm
- That person who holds a glass (of wine) in his hand / Has everlasting pleasure and joy. / We, wine, devout and pious ones, / Which one will the beloved prefer?
- The calligrapher Hasan Shamlu has signed his work in the lower right corner of the text panel with the expression "written by..."(mashaqahu...). Hasan Shamlu (d. ca.1666-7) was a calligrapher in nasta'liq script who followed closely the style of his predecessor Mir 'Imad (d. 1615). Although works by Hasan Shamlu are rather uncommon (Mehdi Zadeh 1369/1950: 50-51), Mir 'Imad's calligraphies are well attested to in the collections of the Library of Congress (1-84-154.3, 1-84-154.43, 1-85-154.72, 1-85-154.77, 1-87-154.160, 1-90-154.162). Both calligraphers provide a continuum of calligraphic works produced in nasta'liq script in (Greater) Persia during the course of the 17th century.
- The verses are executed in black nasta'liq script on a beige paper and are outlined in cloud bands on a background painted in gold. The text panel is provided by several monochromatic frames and pasted to a larger pink sheet of paper backed by cardboard.
- This calligraphic fragment includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, describing competition for the loved one. At the top, the verses are initiated by an invocation to God ("He," or huwa), and its numerical (abjad) equivalent 111. The poem then reads:
- Script: nasta'liq
Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
16th-17th centuries, Quatrains by the Persian poet Hafiz (d. 791/1388-9), written in the black Nasta'liq script during the 16th- or 17th-centuries, in Iran.
- (Bad deeds) have a very strange adjective / This bizarre Satan that eats people / Most people are cannibals / You are not safe when they greet you
- Another quatrain by the Persian poet Hafiz (d. 791/1388-9) is inscribed in vertical panels, the last two verses of which appear on a background painted with gold leaves. This quatrain describes respect owed to one's superiors:
- Dil sara parda-yi muhabbat-i tu-st / Dida ayina dar-i tal'at-i tu-st / Man ka sar dar nayavaram bi-du kawm / Gardanam zir-i bar-i minnat-i tu-st
- Dimensions of Written Surface: 15 (w) x 25 (h) cm
- My heart is in your house of love / (My) eye is the mirror that reflects your brilliance / I, who do not prostrate to the two worlds, / My neck is under the weight of your favor
- The fragment is neither dated nor signed. However, it appears to have been produced in 16th- or 17th-century Iran and placed later into an album (muraqqa') of calligraphies.
- The verses are executed in black nasta'liq script in independent registers on a background decorated with illuminated triangular and rectangular panels. The entirety of the text panel is pasted to a larger sheet of beige paper decorated with light blue vegetal motifs.
- This calligraphic fragment includes three iambic pentameter quatrains, or ruba'is, arranged in corresponding vertical and horizontal panels. The verses written diagonally in the upper right corner describe humans' duplicity:
- Yak sifat-i 'ajab amad in ammara-ra / Bu al-'ajab ifrit-i mardum khwara-ra / Adami khwarand aghlab marduman / Az salam 'alaykashan kam ju aman
- Script: nasta'liq
Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Annotatsiya:
Sample of a hopeful letter to a friend, written in a fluid Shikastah-Nasta'liq script in the 18th Cent. by the calligrapher, 'Abdallah.
- Dimensions of Written Surface: 20.3 (w) x 21.7 (h) cm
- Look at the bird of the heart, his wing and feathers burned / He has the hope (to return to) the nest, still still still...
- Murgh-i dil bin ka sukht bal u parash / Darad umid-i ashiyana hanuz hanuz hanuz...
- The calligrapher's signature appears vertically at the top of the text panel and reads: "mashaqahu al-'abd al-aqall... 'Abdallah al-musammah bi-khatim al-anbiya'" (written by the modest servant 'Abdallah known as the "Seal of the Prophets"). The calligrapher, whose name is shared with that of the Prophet Muhammad, has also made a note that he wrote his composition in the month of Muharram. Although he does not specify the year, the script is typical of 18th-century Persian calligraphic works.
- The letter begins with two verses of poetry about hope after disappointment. They read:
- The sample letter then proceeds with expressions that one must use when missing a friend and wishing to see him again.
- This calligraphic fragment comprises a sample of how to write a letter to a friend. Written in a fluid shikastah-nasta'liq in black ink, the text is outlined in cloud bands and placed on a background painted in gold. Several borders in orange, blue and gold frame the text panel, which is pasted to a larger sheet of pink paper backed with cardboard for support.
- Script: shikastah-nasta'liq
