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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy

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Good wishes for 'id (feast day)

AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: unknown

CREATED/PUBLISHED
ca. 1900

NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 23.5 (w) x 24.5 (h) cm

Script: thuluth

This calligraphic fragment includes four lines in Persian wishing its owner good fortune and happiness on the occasion of 'id. Initiated by a praise to God, the Glorified (huwa al-'aziz), the verses read:

Ay nashat-i 'id az nam-i shuma-st / Rahat-i giti za aram-i shuma-st / Qulqul-i mina-st ta dur-i sipihr / Bada-yi iqbal dar jam-i shuma-st

Oh, the joy of 'id is from your name / The comfort of the world is from your peacefulness / The bubbling of the sky reaches the celestial spheres / The wine of chance is in your glass

The verses are written in black thuluth script on a beige paper framed by cloud bands and placed on a background decorated by pasted pieces of white-and-blue marble (abri or ebru) paper. The lower right and the upper left corners of the text panel have been lost and repaired with a two triangular pieces of beige paper. Missing letters in these two corners have also been filled in.

Below the text panel appears another fragment of text cut out and pasted to the larger sheet of paper backed by cardboard. The two lines read: "On behalf of (baraya khatir) Pari Beygum Sahib, may she live long!" Although the name of the calligrapher and the date of the composition are not specified, Pari Beygum Sahib may be identified as the wife of Amanullah Khan, the last amir (prince or king) of the Barakzay Dynasty (r. 1919-29), the ruling family of the independent kingdom of Afghanistan from 1839-1926. She was a former lady-in-waiting (pari) to the ruler's mother before becoming his royal consort (beygum). She died during childbirth in Kabul in 1912. This calligraphic specimen may have been executed for her on the occasion of 'id in Kabul sometime around 1900.

SUBJECT
Arabic script calligraphy
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Islamic calligraphy
Islamic manuscripts
Thuluth
Arabic calligraphy

MEDIUM
29.7 (w) x 39.3 (h) cm

CALL NUMBER
1-88-154.57

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

DIGITAL ID
ascs 215
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.215

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