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'Id (feast day) Poem

AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: Mir Muhammad Salih

CREATED/PUBLISHED
1225/1810

NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 8.2 (w) x 15.3 (h) cm

Script: naskh

This calligraphic panel includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, signed by the calligrapher Mir Muhammad Salih. He has signed and dated his work in the lower left corner with the note "raqamahu Mir Muhammad Salih, 1225" (written by Mir Muhammad Salih, 1225/1810). Although little is known about the calligrapher, the date proves that this work dates from the early 19th century.

The text is executed in black (Indian) naskh script on a beige sheet of paper framed in a blue border decorated with gold leaf and vine motifs. Before the quatrain begins, a short invocation of God reading "He is the Forgiving " ( huwa al-ghafur), appears in the upper right corner. Then follows the quatrain, which reads:

'Id ast may-ya nishat dar jam-i tu bad / Julangah-i mah-i 'id bar bam-i tu bad / Har khal'at-i iqbal ka duzad gardun / Ay kan-i karam rast bar andam-i tu bad

It is 'id, may the wine of joy be in your glass / May the circus of the moon of 'id be on your roof / Every robe of fortune that the firmament sewed / Oh, Generous Mineral, may it fit you properly!

This poem wishes a ruler (nicknamed a "Generous Mineral," or kan-i karam) fortune and happiness on the occasion of 'id. This may well be the festival ('id) of New Year (noruz) that is, the Spring equinox (March 21st) marking the beginning of the solar calendar as celebrated in Iran and parts of India. It appears that this calligraphic panel was executed on such an occasion to celebrate the New Year and to wish a patron prosperity for the years to come. This practice of offering good wishes in written form during New Year's celebrations is attested to in a number of other calligraphic specimens in the Library of Congress (see 1-04-713.19.48, 1-04-713.19.49, and 1-84-154.51).

SUBJECT
Naskh
Islamic manuscripts
Islamic calligraphy
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Arabic script calligraphy
Arabic calligraphy
Poetry

MEDIUM
21.5 (w) x 35.1 (h) cm

CALL NUMBER
1-04-713.19.3

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

DIGITAL ID
ascs 023
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.023

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