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About this Item

Title

  • Verses by Hilali

Names

  • Mir 'Ali and Sultan Bayazid

Created / Published

  • ca. 1500-1550

Headings

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

Notes

  • -  Persian poetry verses by the poet Hilali (d. 936/1529-30), written in nasta'liq script by the calligrapher Mir 'Ali Heravi (d. 951/1544-5) during the Shaybanid period.
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 13.3 (w) x 22.1 (h) cm
  • -  It appears that this calligraphic piece attempts to highlight the close master-pupil relationship by pasting together their works onto a single album page.
  • -  Other calligraphic fragments written by, or attributed to, Mir 'Ali are held in the collections of the Library of Congress. See, for example, 1-04-713.19.38, 1-87-154.159, 1-88-154.65, and 1-90-154.180.
  • -  The blue text panel includes verses composed by the mystical poet Hilali (d. 936/1529-30), whose name appears in the upper left triangular corner. The other two text panels contain prayers for a king, wishing him glory and health, composed in the poetic format known as tarji-band (in between each stanza with a different rhyme appears a single hemistich with its own rhyme).
  • -  The panel executed in white ink on the top left is signed in the lower left corner by the calligrapher Mir 'Ali. This famous Persian calligrapher, whose full name was Mir 'Ali Heravi (d. 951/1544-5), was active in the city of Herat (modern-day Afghanistan) during the 16th century until he was taken to Bukhara (modern-day Uzbekistan) in 935/1528-9 by the Shaybanid ruler 'Ubaydallah Khan Uzbek (Qadi Ahmad 1959: 126-131). He not only was a master calligrapher, but was a poet in his own right, having composed a number of sample verses (qit'as) in honor of his patrons.
  • -  The text executed in black on blue paper is signed by another calligrapher, Sultan Bayazid (d. 986/1578). He was a respected pupil of Mir 'Ali. The master considered him his spiritual son and even calligraphed certain pieces for him, signing his name and making a note that the piece was for his "illustrious son, Sultan Bayazid" (Huart 1972, 233).
  • -  This calligraphic fragment includes three distinct text panels all executed in nasta'liq script: one written in black ink on blue paper, another in white ink on beige paper with two illuminated triangles (or thumb pieces) in the upper and lower corners, and a third (lowermost horizontal) written in black ink on beige paper. All three panels were cut out and placed together, provided with a gold frame, and pasted to a larger sheet of paper decorated with flecks of gold.
  • -  Script: nasta'liq
  • -  -87-154.158

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 21.5 (w) x 33.5 (h) cm

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714660

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:

Mir 'Ali And Sultan Bayazid. Verses by Hilali. to 1550, ca. 1500. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714660/.

APA citation style:

Mir 'Ali And Sultan Bayazid. (ca. 1500) Verses by Hilali. to 1550. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714660/.

MLA citation style:

Mir 'Ali And Sultan Bayazid. Verses by Hilali. to 1550, ca. 1500. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714660/>.