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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy

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Ghazals by Sa'di

AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: 'Abd al-Majid

CREATED/PUBLISHED
17th century

NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 4.9 (w) x 10.9 (h) cm

Script: shikastah-nasta'liq

This calligraphic fragment includes a number of lyrical verses, or ghazals, composed by Shaykh Sa'di (d. 691/1292). Many of these verses express the pain at separation from a friend and exhort faithfulness to one's companions. Sa'di's name appears in one of the verses at the very bottom of the right column.

The text is executed in black shikastah script and is surrounded by cloud band motifs on a background covered with gold leaf. The central gutter separating the main text panel into two columns is decorated with interlacing blue flower and vine motifs. The text panel is provided with several decorative frames and is pasted onto a blue paper ornamented with gold painted interlacing floral vines.

In the lower center of the text panel (that is, at the bottom of the central gutter) appears the calligrapher's signature. It reads: "written by the servant 'Abd al-Majid" (mashaqahu al-'abd 'Abd al-Majid). A note on the fragment's verso, not visible in this image, also states: "'Abd al-Majid, the inventor of shikasta, 17th century."

This is certainly Darvish 'Abd al-Majid al-Taliqani (d. 1185/1674-5), who resided in Isfahan, the capital city of Persia (Iran) during the 17th century. He was a master calligrapher in nasta'liq and is credited with the invention of shikastah, a very fluid and literally "broken" script derivative of nasta'liq. He was a poet in his own right and signed his poems with the pen-name (takhallus) "The Extinguished One," or Khamush (Tavoosi 1987, 34).

A number of works signed by 'Abd al-Majid in Iranian collections bear similarities to the fragment in the Library of Congress. These typically are executed in black shikastah or shikastah- nasta'liq and are framed by gold cloud bands (see Tavoosi 1987: 35, 37, 63, 123, 151, 181, and 183).

SUBJECT
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Arabic script calligraphy
Islamic calligraphy
Shikastah-nasta'liq
Islamic manuscripts
Arabic calligraphy

MEDIUM
13.6 (w) x 21.5 (h) cm

CALL NUMBER
1-04-713.19.30

REPOSITORY
Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division, Washington, D.C. 20540

DIGITAL ID
ascs 024
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.024

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