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About this Item

Title

  • Ghazal by Sa'di

Created / Published

  • 16th century

Headings

  • -  Calligraphy, Arabic
  • -  Calligraphy, Persian
  • -  Manuscripts, Persian--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  Iran
  • -  Arabic script calligraphy
  • -  Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Islamic calligraphy
  • -  Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Nasta'liq

Notes

  • -  A lyric poem (ghazal) by the Persian poet Shaykh Sa'di (d. 691/1292) written in the Nasta'liq script during the Safavid era from Iran.
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 10.5 (w) x 21.8 (h) cm
  • -  The corners left open by the intersection of the diagonal verses and the rectangular frame are decorated by illuminated triangles (or thumb pieces). The text panel is framed by a border consisting of cream-colored paper decorated with gold flecks cut out and pasted to the folio. The composition is placed on a larger beige sheet of paper decorated with deer, birds, and various vegetal motifs.
  • -  The fragment is neither dated nor signed. However, it appears to have been produced in Safavid Iran and placed later into an album (muraqqa') of calligraphies.
  • -  The verses are written in nasta'liq script using white, light blue, red, and yellow ink on a blue paper. Colored (rangin) inks add variety to the composition and are found in a number of calligraphies produced during the 16th century.
  • -  This calligraphic fragment contains a lyric poem (ghazal) by the Persian poet Shaykh Sa'di (d. 691/1292). The verses describe a lover's search for his beloved and his request that she show herself to him.
  • -  Script: nasta'liq
  • -  1-85-154.71

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 19.4 (w) x 30 (h) cm

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714613

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of Congress Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, African and Middle East Division, Near East Section Persian Manuscript Collection

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Ghazal by Sa'di. 16th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714613/.

APA citation style:

Ghazal by Sa'di. 16th Century. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714613/.

MLA citation style:

Ghazal by Sa'di. 16th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714613/>.