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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy
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Muraqqa' of Poetical Excerpts
AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: Mirza Quli Mayli
CREATED/PUBLISHED
17th-18th centuries
NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 11.5 (w) x 19.2 (h) cm
Script: nasta'liq
This calligraphic sample from an album (muraqqa') of calligraphies includes poetical verses composed by the poets Zahir Fariyabi (d. 598/1202), (Shaykh) Fayzi (d. 1004/1595-6), Khwajah Afzal-i Taraka (d. 580/1185), and Asir (al-Din) Akhsikati (d. 577/1181 or 579/1183). Their names are picked out in gold ink and are followed by their respective verses, which are chosen for their thematic unity. They all describe the power of love (‘ishq) and its rewards.
In the right column, an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, by Shaykh Fayzi Hindi written in diagonal describes the effects of love. Another one of his love quatrains also appears on the main text panel on the fragment's recto (1-88-154.32 R).
The verses are executed in black nasta'liq script in diagonal on a cream-colored paper and in horizontal on panels made of beige paper. Corners created by the intersection of the diagonal verses and the horizontal and vertical frames are filled with illuminated triangular panels. The text panel is framed by borders of various colors and pasted to a larger sheet of beige paper decorated with various vegetal and geometric motifs painted in gold.
The verso of this folio from an album (muraqqa') of calligraphies includes excerpts by the poets Shaykh Fayzi Hindi (d. 1004/1595-6), Mawlana Baqiri (11/17th century), and (Muhammad Husayn) Chalabi Tabrizi (11/17th century). The names of the three poets are picked out in red ink on the folio and are followed by their respective poetical verses.
In the center of the text panel appears one iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, and two verses (tak bayt) by the Deccani poet Shaykh Fayzi Hindi. The quatrain reads:
Ya rabb, cha mahari tu ka chasm-i man az rukhat / Dar har nigah mahv-i tamasha-yi digar ast / Ah az durugh-i va'ida-yi u kaz pay-yi farib / Farda-yi hashr talib-i farda-yi digar ast
Oh God, how do you appear when my eye looks upon your face / By every glance it (my eye) is beguiled to take another look / Oh, from the lie of procrastination at the foot of deceit / On tomorrow's Day of Gathering, s/he searches for another tomorrow
The quatrain describes a lover's enchantment at his beloved's face, which entices him to look at it again and again.
The verses are written in black nasta'liq script on a blue paper decorated with leaf motifs painted in gold. Verses also form registers around the central text panel, separated by squares filled with decorative motifs in blue or gold. The entire text panel is pasted to a larger cream-colored sheet decorated with painted gold flowers and backed by cardboard.
In the lower left corner of the panel containing the diagonal verses by Shaykh Fayzi Hindi, the calligapher Mirza Quli Mayli has signed his work with his name inscribed vertically. He was most likely a calligrapher active in Persia (Iran) during the 17th or 18th century.
SUBJECT
Arabic calligraphy
Arabic script calligraphy
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Islamic manuscripts
Nasta'liq
Islamic calligraphy
MEDIUM
19.8 (w) x 31.9 (h) cm
CALL NUMBER
1-88-154.32
REPOSITORY
Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
DIGITAL ID
ascs 208
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.208
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