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Manuscript/Mixed Material Verses on the permanence of good deeds

About this Item

Title

  • Verses on the permanence of good deeds

Names

  • Muhammad Husayn al-Kashmiri

Created / Published

  • ca. 1575-1600

Headings

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

Notes

  • -  Persian poetry verses by the poet Hafiz (d. 791/1388-9) on "the futility of worldly goods," written calligrapher, Muhammad Husayn al-Kashmiri from India in the black Nasta'liq script.
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 21 (w) x 11.2 (h) cm
  • -  In the lower right corner appears the name of the calligrapher, Muhammad Husayn al-Kashmiri. Originally from Kashmir, he became a pupil of Mir 'Ali Heravi (Huart 1972, 248; and see 1-88-154.65) and then joined the imperial book atelier of the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) in Agra. There, Muhammad Husayn al-Kashmiri was responsible for transcribing a royal copy of Amir Khusraw Dihlavi's Khamsah (Quintet) in 1595-8 (now in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore). Other calligraphic specimens -- including one dated 988/1580 in the Shrine of Imam Riza in Mashhad (Mehdi Zadeh and Razzaghi 1369/1950: 32-33) -- suggest that this fragment in the Library of Congress was executed ca. 1575-1600 in India.
  • -  Oh wealthy one, soothe the heart of the indigent / Because the treasury of gold, riches, and coins will not remain / On this topaz canopy (the sky) they have inscribed in gold / That nothing will remain except the good deeds of the generous ones
  • -  Tavangara dil-i darvish-ra bi-dast avar / Ka makhzan-i zar u ganj u diram nakhwahad mand / Bar in rivaq-i zabarjat navashta-and bi-zar / Ka juz' niku'i-yi ahl-i karam nakhwahad mand
  • -  The verses are executed in black nasta'liq script on blue paper and outlined in cloud bands on a lavishly illuminated background. Between the two bayts of poetry appear illuminated triangles (or thumb pieces), which fill in the interim space created by the intersection of the diagonal lines of text and the rectangular frame.
  • -  This calligraphic fragment includes verses composed by the celebrated Persian poet Hafiz (d. 791/1388-9) on the futility of worldly goods. Beginning with a praise of God, the Unique (huwa al-fard), in the upper left corner, the verses continue:
  • -  Script: nasta'liq
  • -  1-2002-154

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 22.4 (w) x 13.1 (h) cm

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714577

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 Al-Kashmiri. Verses on the Permanence of Good Deeds. to 1600, ca. 1575. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714577/.

APA citation style:

Muhammad Husayn Al-Kashmiri. (ca. 1575) Verses on the Permanence of Good Deeds. to 1600. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714577/.

MLA citation style:

Muhammad Husayn Al-Kashmiri. Verses on the Permanence of Good Deeds. to 1600, ca. 1575. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714577/>.