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About this Item

Title

  • Verses by Hafiz

Names

  • Hafiz Ibrahim

Created / Published

  • 19th 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

  • -  Persian Quatrain, or ruba'i, by Hafiz (d. 791/1388-9) written Indian Nasta'liq script by Hafiz Ibrahim 19th Cent. Indian calligrapher.
  • -  Although the calligraphic piece is not signed, a later note on the fragment's verso attributes the piece to a certain "Hafiz Ibrahim." If this attribution is accepted, Hafiz Ibrahim appears to have been a calligrapher in the nasta'liq script active in India during the 19th century.
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 19.5 (w) x 11 (h) cm
  • -  Gar za dast-i zulf-i mushkinat khata'i raft raft / Var za hindu-yi shuma bar ma jafa'i raft raft / Dar tariqat ranjish-i khatir nabashad may biyar / Har kudurat-ra ka mibini safa'i raft raft
  • -  If from the hand of your musky tress, a fault is passed, passed / And if against us from their dark mole, an act of tyranny is passed, passed / If there is no (mystical) sect for memory's indignation, bring wine / Every foulness that you see (as) purity is passed, passed
  • -  The text is executed in black nasta'liq script typical of calligraphic works produced in India during the 19th century. Drawing on the creative potential of the script, the calligrapher has chosen to superimpose certain letters in each line, thereby creating three columns of overlayed letters repeated over the four lines of text. The visual effect is balanced and artistic.
  • -  This calligraphic fragment includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, composed by the famous Persian poet Hafiz (d. 791/1388-9). The verses use mystical ('irfani) terms to urge the exculpation of the beloved's faults:
  • -  Script: Indian nasta'liq
  • -  1-04-713.19.16

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 33.5 (w) x 20.7 (h) cm

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714584

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:

Hafiz Ibrahim. Verses by Hafiz. 19th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714584/.

APA citation style:

Hafiz Ibrahim. Verses by Hafiz. 19th Century. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714584/.

MLA citation style:

Hafiz Ibrahim. Verses by Hafiz. 19th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714584/>.