Thursday, May 24, 2012

Five poems



Five poems
This is an illuminated and illustrated copy of the Khamsah (quintet) by Niẓāmī Ganjavī (d. 605 AH / 1209 CE), written in 1059 AH / 1649 CE by Shams al-Dīn Kirmānī. The codex opens with an illuminated titlepiece inscribed hadhā kitāb Khamsah-ʾi Mawlānā Shaykh-i Niẓāmī (fol. 1b). There are additional illuminated headpieces for the subsequent four poems (fols. 22b, 82b, 130b, and 180b). The illustrations are in different styles executed during the Safavid and Qajar periods. The floral lacquer binding dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.

Book of kings


The lights of Canopus


Five poems


Five poems
This illuminated and illustrated copy of the Khamsah (quintet) of Niẓāmī Ganjavī (d. 605 AH / 1209 CE) was executed in Safavid Iran and dates to the middle of the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE. There are six colophons in Arabic that supply neither the date nor the scribe's name (fols. 31b, 119a, 175a, 238a, 325a, and 371a). The text is written in black nastaʿlīq script with section headings in blue. Twenty paintings attributable to the Shiraz school illustrate the text. The dark brown leather binding with central ovals and pendants, all brushed with gold, is original to the manuscript.