Manuscript/Mixed Material Quatrain eulogizing a king
About this Item
Title
- Quatrain eulogizing a king
Names
- Rukn al-Din Mas'ud al-Tabib
Created / Published
- early 17th century
Headings
- - Calligraphy, Arabic
- - Calligraphy, Persian
- - Manuscripts, Persian--Washington (D.C.)
- - Iran
- - Afghanistan
- - India
- - Arabic script calligraphy
- - Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
- - Islamic calligraphy
- - Islamic manuscripts
- - Nasta'liq
- - Poetry
Notes
- - Persian quatrain eulogizing a king, written in black Nasta'liq script by the calligrapher Rukn al-Din Mas'ud al-Tabib during the 17th Cent.
- - Dimensions of Written Surface: 12.5 (w) x 23.5 (h) cm
- - In the lower left corner, the calligrapher Rukn al-Din Mas'ud al-Tabib states that he has copied the text (namaqahu) and asks God to forgive his shortcomings. Rukn al-Din was nicknamed al-Tabib ("the doctor") as he came from a long line of royal physicians and he himself held high position at the court (divan) of Shah 'Abbas I (r. 1587-1629) in Isfahan (Qadi Ahmad 1959: 169-170). However, since the ruler did not get well after a bout of illness, he requested that Rukn al-Din reimburse his salary and forced him to leave the capital city. The calligrapher headed to Mashhad (northeastern Iran), from where he then journeyed to Balkh (modern-day Afghanistan) and eventually arrived in India (Huart 1972, 221). He is known as a master of the nasta'liq style, and he may have executed this eulogistic quatrain for Shah 'Abbas I when they were on better terms.
- - Oh King, may the mornings of your fortune / Last until the morning of [the Day of] Gathering / May good luck take you to the utmost limit of hope / And may the evil eye not reach you
- - One other calligraphic sample by Rukn al-Din Mas'ud al-Tabib is held in the collections of the Library of Congress: see 1-84-154.48.
- - Padishahha subuh-i dawlat-i tu / Mutassil ba sabah-i mahshar bad / Bakht-i nikat bi-muntahah-yi umid / Barasanad u chasm-i bad marasad
- - The poet wishes a king good fortune until the end of time (literally, until the Day of Gathering [mahshar] on the Last Judgment) and eternal protection against envy (that is, the evil eye, or chasm-i bad).
- - This calligraphic fragment includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, in honor of a king. Written diagonally in black nasta'liq script and framed by cloud bands on a rather crudely painted purple background, the verses read:
- - Script: nasta'liq
- - 1-88-154.153
Medium
- 1 volume ; 27.5 (w) x 38.7 (h) cm
Repository
- Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2019714671
Online Format
- image