Top of page

Manuscript/Mixed Material Eulogy to a ruler

About this Item

Title

  • Eulogy to a ruler

Names

  • Muhammad Husayn

Created / Published

  • 19th-20th centuries

Headings

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

Notes

  • -  Eulogy to a ruler, in Persian, eulogy (na't) dedicated to a king, written by calligrapher Muhammad Husayn in black nasta'liq script in 20th century Iran or India.
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 12.5 (w) x 26.8 (h) cm
  • -  In the lower left corner of the text panel, the calligrapher has signed his work with the expression: fidavi dargah Muhammad Husayn tab' namud ("the devoted slave at [your] presence [or court], Muhammad Husayn marked [made] it"). Although otherwise unrecorded, Muhammad Husayn may have been a calligrapher active in Iran or India at the turn of the 20th century.
  • -  Khuda ya bi-rahmat nadar karda'i / Ka in sayah bar khalq gustarda'i / Talabkar-i khayr-i tu am banda var / Khuda ya tu in sayah payanda dar
  • -  Oh God, You have looked (down) with mercy / Because You extended this shadow to the people / Like a slave, I seek your goodness / Oh God, You Everlasting Shadow
  • -  The verses are written in black nasta'liq script framed by cloud bands on a beige sheet of paper whose background is painted in gold. In the upper right corner appears an invocation to God as the Guide (huwa al-hadi) written in a script known as khatt al-taj ("crown writing"), in which letters interlace to form decorative coronets. Khatt al-taj is a rather late calligraphic invention, appearing by far and large in specimens produced during the 19th and 20th centuries (al-Bahnasi 1995, 19).
  • -  This calligraphic fragment includes a Persian eulogy (na't) to a king, describing him as the shadow (sayah) of God on earth. The verses read:
  • -  Script: nasta'liq
  • -  1-85-154.100

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 15.7 (w) x 29.5 (h) cm

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714606

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:

Muhammad Husayn. Eulogy to a Ruler. 19th-20th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714606/.

APA citation style:

Muhammad Husayn. Eulogy to a Ruler. 19th-20th Centuries. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714606/.

MLA citation style:

Muhammad Husayn. Eulogy to a Ruler. 19th-20th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714606/>.