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Manuscript/Mixed Material Three bayts (verses) on worldly desires

About this Item

Title

  • Three bayts (verses) on worldly desires

Created / Published

  • Date: 18th-19th centuries

Headings

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

Notes

  • -  Three bayts (verses) in Persian on "worldly desires", writen in the Nasta'liq script from 18-19th Cent. period India or Iran.
  • -  Dar in dirina dayr-i dir bunyad / 'Ajab ghafil nahad ast adami zad / Bi-ni'mat garcha 'umri baguzaranad / Nadanad qadr-i an ta dar namanad / Dar in sandal saraya abnusi / Gahi matam bavad gahi 'arusi
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 7.2 (w) x 19.4 (h) cm
  • -  In this ancient monastery built in olden days / Strange that man's substance is so neglected / If he were to spend his whole life with riches / He would not know their value until they are lost / In this house of sandalwood and ebony / Sometimes (there is) mourning, at others a wedding
  • -  The poem describes the world as an ancient monastery and a house of sandalwood and ebony. It is treacherous, as it takes back what it gives, but also comprised jointly of joys and sadness. The true value of man's life must be sought elsewhere than in the acquisition of worldly goods.
  • -  The verses are executed in black nasta'liq script on beige paper and are outlined in cloud bands on a background painted in gold. The text panel is framed by blue and cream-colored borders decorated with gold flecks, and somewhat sloppily pasted to a larger sheet of brown paper backed by cardboard.
  • -  This calligraphic fragment includes three bayts of poetry in Persian which describe the true meaning of life in the following verses:
  • -  This calligraphic fragment is neither signed nor dated. However, it may have been executed in Iran or India in the 18th or 19th century.
  • -  Script: nasta'liq
  • -  1-04-713.19.42

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 18th-19th century

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714540

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:

Three Bayts Verses on Worldly Desires. Date: 18th-19th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714540/.

APA citation style:

Three Bayts Verses on Worldly Desires. Date: 18th-19th Centuries. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714540/.

MLA citation style:

Three Bayts Verses on Worldly Desires. Date: 18th-19th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714540/>.