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Manuscript/Mixed Material Moral lessons through bird stories

About this Item

Title

  • Moral lessons through bird stories

Names

  • Muhammad Valikhan Khattat

Created / Published

  • 1260/1844

Headings

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

Notes

  • -  Moral lessons through bird stories written in the Shikastah-Nasta'liq by the calligrapher Muhammad Valikhan Khattat, Qajar era.
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 18 (w) x 9 (h) cm
  • -  These moralizing verses are written both vertically and horizontally in black shikastah-nasta'liq script on a white piece of paper. The verses are divided by red lines. The text panel is pasted to a green piece of paper backed by cardboard and framed by a border heavily damaged by worm holes. In the lower right corner of the text panel, the calligrapher Muhammad Valikhan Khattat ("the calligrapher"), known as Chalaq ("the Speedy One"), has signed his work. He also notes that it was completed in 1260/1844. From this information, one may hypothesize that this certain Muhammad Valikhan Khattat was a swift writer active in Iran during the mid-19th century.
  • -  This calligraphic fragment includes verses providing two separate stories whose protagonists are birds. The first narrative describes two falcons in the desert talking about whether to join the king. The smart one refuses because he notes that freedom is better than service, even to a royal patron. The second story describes a hunter about to shoot a small bird. The latter prays to God to save it, at which time the hunter begins to tremble and his arrow misses the bird. Through God's intercession, the prey is saved from an untimely death.
  • -  Script: shikastah-nasta'liq
  • -  1-93-154.146b

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 24 (w) x 14.5 (h) cm

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714699

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 Valikhan Khattat. Moral Lessons Through Bird Stories. /1844, 1844. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714699/.

APA citation style:

Muhammad Valikhan Khattat. (1844) Moral Lessons Through Bird Stories. /1844. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714699/.

MLA citation style:

Muhammad Valikhan Khattat. Moral Lessons Through Bird Stories. /1844, 1844. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714699/>.