Manuscript/Mixed Material Invocation of 'Ali
About this Item
Title
- Invocation of 'Ali
Names
- Ahmad al-Husayni
Created / Published
- 16th century (?)
Headings
- - Calligraphy, Arabic
- - Calligraphy, Persian
- - Manuscripts, Arabic--Washington (D.C.)
- - Iran
- - India
- - Arabic script calligraphy
- - Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
- - Islamic calligraphy
- - Islamic manuscripts
- - Nasta'liq
Notes
- - An Shi'i invocation (du'a) to 'Ali, in Arabic with Persian verses in the boarder, written in black Nasta'liq script and atttributed to the calligrapher's Ahmad al-Husayni?
- - Although the original, main text panel executed in large nasta'liq script may have been executed during the Safavid period (16th century), the surrounding border and the calligrapher's signature may have been added later (18th-19th centuries). Such procedures of alteration show how some calligraphies experienced a "second life" when combined into albums or passed down through the hands of another calligrapher.
- - Call upon 'Ali who causes marvels to appear / You will find him to help (you) in adversity / All anguish and sorrow will vanish / Through your guardianship, oh 'Ali, oh 'Ali, oh 'Ali
- - Dimensions of Written Surface: 21 (w) x 32 (h) cm
- - In the lower right corner of this main text panel appears the calligrapher's signature: "written by (katabahu) the poor (al-mudhnib) Ahmad al-Husayni." The triangular area which contains the signature is rather suspicious: the paper does not match the main text panel and this section appears to have been cut out and pasted onto the fragment. It is possible that the otherwise unknown calligrapher Ahmad al-Husayni may have removed the original calligrapher's signature and replaced it with his own.
- - Nad-i 'Aliyan mazhar al-'aja'ib / Tajiduhu 'awnayn laka fi al-nawa'ib / Kull hammun wa ghammun sayanjali / Bi-walayatika, ya 'Ali, ya 'Ali, ya 'Ali
- - The main text panel is framed by a pink border decorated with gold vine motifs and a large blue frame decorated with gold leafs and panels of Persian verses. Each rectangular panel of text has been individually cut out and pasted into the appropriate panels in the blue border. The whole composition is contained on a larger sheet of pink paper painted with gold flowers and backed with cardboard.
- - This calligraphic fragment includes an invocation (du'a) to 'Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law, in the central text panel. Written in black nasta'liq script on a beige paper decorated with arabesque motifs painted in gold, the Shi'i du'a reads:
- - Script: nasta'liq
- - 1-88-154.154
Medium
- 1 volume ; 27.5 (w) x 39 (h) cm
Repository
- Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2019714672
Online Format
- image