PREVIOUS NEXT NEW SEARCH

Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy

Click on picture for larger image, full item, or more versions    [Rights and Reproductions]
  
thumbnail

Quatrain eulogizing a king

AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: Rukn al-Din Mas'ud al-Tabib

CREATED/PUBLISHED
early 17th century

NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 12.5 (w) x 23.5 (h) cm

Script: nasta'liq

This calligraphic fragment includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, in honor of a king. Written diagonally in black nasta'liq script and framed by cloud bands on a rather crudely painted purple background, the verses read:

Padishahha subuh-i dawlat-i tu / Mutassil ba sabah-i mahshar bad / Bakht-i nikat bi-muntahah-yi umid / Barasanad u chasm-i bad marasad

Oh King, may the mornings of your fortune / Last until the morning of [the Day of] Gathering / May good luck take you to the utmost limit of hope / And may the evil eye not reach you

The poet wishes a king good fortune until the end of time (literally, until the Day of Gathering [mahshar] on the Last Judgment) and eternal protection against envy (that is, the evil eye, or chasm-i bad).

In the lower left corner, the calligrapher Rukn al-Din Mas'ud al-Tabib states that he has copied the text (namaqahu) and asks God to forgive his shortcomings. 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). He is known as a master of the nasta'liq style, and he may have executed this eulogistic quatrain for Shah 'Abbas I when they were on better terms.

One other calligraphic sample by Rukn al-Din Mas'ud al-Tabib is held in the collections of the Library of Congress: see 1-84-154.48.

SUBJECT
Islamic calligraphy
Arabic calligraphy
Islamic manuscripts
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Arabic script calligraphy
Poetry
Nasta'liq

MEDIUM
27.5 (w) x 38.7 (h) cm

CALL NUMBER
1-88-154.153

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

DIGITAL ID
ascs 202
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.202

PREVIOUS NEXT NEW SEARCH