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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy

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"Munajat" of 'Abdallah Ansari

AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: Malik (Daylami)

CREATED/PUBLISHED
ca. 1550

NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 14.8 (w) x 8.5 (h) cm

Script: nasta'liq

This calligraphic fragment includes a maxim drawn from the "Munajat" (Supplications) of the great Persian mystic and scholar Khwajah 'Abdallah Ansari (d. 481/1088). The two lines describe the benefits of prayer and generosity:

Sari ka daru sujud nist safcha bah az u / Va kafi ka daru jud nist kafcha bah az u

The unripe melon is better than the head that does not prostrate / And the soup ladle is better than the palm that does not give

The two lines of text are executed in black nasta'liq script on beige paper and framed by delicate cloud bands on a gold illuminated background. The text panel is framed by a variety of borders and pasted to a sheet of purple paper decorated with gold interlacing flower motifs. Between and below the two main lines of text appear a minute inscription reading: "God, everyone fears You, but 'Abdallah fears himself, because everything that is good comes from You, and everything that is evil comes from 'Abdallah (i.e., the servant of God)." This diminutive sentence serves as the author's praise of God's munificence and kindness.

Immediately after the praise of God appears the calligrapher's signature: "mashq-i Malik" (composition of Malik). Malik may be identified as the calligrapher Malik Daylami, who was in the service of the Safavid ruler Shah Tahmasp, who reigned from 1524 to 1576 (Huart 1972: 237-8; and Qadi Ahmad 1959: 141-5). He was responsible for creating inscriptions for the ruler's royal buildings and collaborated with his contemporary Shah Mahmud al-Nishapuri (see 1-87-154.155) in the composing of the famous "Haft Awrang" (Seven Pavilions) of Jami commissioned by the king's nephew, Sultan Ibrahim Mirza (Simpson 1993). If this fragment indeed was composed by Malik Daylami, then it represents the output of the Persian nasta'liq school of calligraphy around the middle of the 16th century.

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

MEDIUM
26.6 (w) x 16.7 (h) cm

CALL NUMBER
1-87-154.91

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

DIGITAL ID
ascs 194
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.194

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