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Manuscript/Mixed Material Id (feast day) Quatrain

About this Item

Title

  • Id (feast day) Quatrain

Created / Published

  • 16th-17th centuries

Headings

  • -  Calligraphy, Arabic
  • -  Calligraphy, Persian
  • -  Manuscripts, Persian--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  Iran
  • -  Arabic script calligraphy
  • -  Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Islamic calligraphy
  • -  Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Nasta'liq
  • -  Poetry

Notes

  • -  Id (feast day) quatrain, or ruba'i, written in black Nasta'liq in Iran during 16th or 17th century.
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 6.5 (w) x 13.7 (h) cm
  • -  In the top left corner of the text panel, an invocation to God initiates the poem with the expression"huwa al-mu'izz" (He is the Glorified). Then follows the quatrain, which reads:
  • -  May your heart be like the sea and your hand like the mineral, / Like the heart and the hand of God, / King of the world who orders, / May you always run across the world.
  • -  Ta dil u dast bahr u kan bashad / Dil u dast-i khudayagan bashad / Padishah-i jahan ka farmanash / Bar jahan da'iman ravan bashad
  • -  This iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, is written in black nasta'liq and surrounded by cloud bands on a gold background. It is not signed or dated, although the script suggests that it was executed in Persia (Iran) sometime in the 16th or 17th century. Provided with several monochromatic frames, the text page is pasted to a pink paper strengthened with cardboard.
  • -  This quatrain provides a prayer (du'a) for a ruler, comparing his generosity to God and hoping that his authority, much like God's, may spread far and wide.
  • -  Script: nasta'liq
  • -  1-84-154.59

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 16th-17th centuries

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714605

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:

Id feast day Quatrain. 16th-17th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714605/.

APA citation style:

Id feast day Quatrain. 16th-17th Centuries. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714605/.

MLA citation style:

Id feast day Quatrain. 16th-17th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714605/>.