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About this Item

Title

  • Ruba'i of Hafiz

Names

  • Muhammad Zahir

Created / Published

  • 18th century

Headings

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

Notes

  • -  Ruba'i (quatrain) from Persian poet Hafiz, written in the Indian Nasta'liq script by the Mughal calligrapher Muhammad Zahir.
  • -  Anha ka khak-ra bi-nazar kimiya kunand / Aya buvad ka gusha-yi chasmi bi-ma kunand / Dardam nahufta bih za tabiban-i muda'i / Bashad ka az khizanah-yi ghaybam dava kunand
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 17.1 (w) x 9 (h) cm
  • -  In the lower right corner, the calligrapher Muhammad Zahir has signed his work, while a later note in English on the fragment's verso attributes the work to a certain "Tahir Lahuri." This is most likely Hafiz Muhammad Zahir Lahuri, a calligrapher of Qur'ans and other texts in Lahore during the 18th century. After the death of Aurangzeb (d. 1707), Mughal power was decentralized and royal patronage of calligraphy declined. The rise of new styles emerged in cities like Lucknow, Hyderabad, and Lahore, where calligraphers such as Muhammad Zahir sought out patronage from local rulers.
  • -  In these verses, Hafiz uses the metaphor of alchemy (al-kimiya) to describe a man's painful and ardent desire to witness the realm of God, where earthly dust (khak) turns to heavenly, gold-like radiance.
  • -  The same verses appear on another fragment in the collections of the Library of Congress (1-04-713.19.43) written by 'Abdallah, a calligrapher also active in Lahore during the 18th century, thereby suggesting a dialectic relationship between the two pieces.
  • -  The text is executed in black nasta'liq script on a white-and-brown marble (abri or ebru) paper, cut out in cloud bands and outlined in red ink. The text is pasted to another sheet of paper decorated with gold sprinkles, provided with several (rather shoddy) frames, and pasted to a beige sheet backed by cardboard.
  • -  This calligraphic fragment includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, by the famous Persian poet Hafiz (d. 791/1388-9). Beginning with an invocation to God as the Glorified (huwa al-'aziz), the verses read:
  • -  Those who turn dust to gold by the gaze, / Could they also glance at me from the corner of (their) eyes? / Hiding my pain from pretentious doctors is better. / May they cure (me) from the treasury of the invisible.
  • -  Script: Indian nasta'liq
  • -  1-04-713.19.40

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 36.7 (w) x 23.5 (h) cm

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714538

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 Zahir. Ruba'i of Hafiz. 18th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714538/.

APA citation style:

Muhammad Zahir. Ruba'i of Hafiz. 18th Century. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714538/.

MLA citation style:

Muhammad Zahir. Ruba'i of Hafiz. 18th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714538/>.