Manuscript. Persian. Title from fol. 2b. Written by Sulṭānmuḥammad al-Kātib. Probably written in Iran. Paper; thick, dark cream color laid paper with no visible chain lines or watermarks; elaborate unwan on fol. 2b in blue, gold, and red; fol. 1b-3a and 168b and 169b have elaborate floral decorations in margins; text enclosed in elaborate ruled border in blue-white-gold-red-green-gold; black ink with red section headings; catchwords. Nastaʻliq; 12 lines in written area 15 x 7 cm. Fol 1b and 2a have full page miniature paintings. Fol. 1b-169a (text: 2b-169a) Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, M84. Binding; black grain with embossed medallions front and back. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
Manuscript. Persian Title from pasted label on cover. Scribe not indicated. Probably written in Iran. Paper: lined notebook paper, lines running vertically to the text; black ink. Text breaks off after the first line of "al-bāb al-awwal min al-wāḥid al-rābiʻ." Naskh; 17 lines in written area approximately 15.5 x 11.5 cm. 165 pages. Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, M5. Contemporary blue cardboard binding with black leather spine. With a small manuscript fragment 19 x 12.5 cm, 16 pages (25-28 lines), in very small nastaʻliq script. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website. Incipit: بسم الامنع الاقدس Explicit/Colophon: في ان للنقطة مقامين مقام ينطق عن الله ومقام ينطق عما دون الله ذلك مقام
Manuscript. Persian. Title determined by comparison with editions of Saʻdī's Gulistān. Written by ʻAbd al-Bārī Muḥammad Maḥmūd Lārī. Probably written in Iran. Date from colophon written in pencil in a later hand. Paper: cream colored lighly polished laid paper with no visible chain-lines or watermarks; unwan in gold, blue, red, white and green; text enclosed blue and gold ruled border; black ink with rubrication; some marginal corrections; catchwords on rectos. Nastaʻliq; 11 lines in written area 11.5 x 5.7 cm. Fol. 1b-160a. Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, M83. Contemporary dark brown leather envelope binding with elaborate gold embossed design covering most of the front and back covers and flap. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website. Explicit/Colophon: ... كتبه العبد البارى محمد محمود لاري عفو عنه.
Manuscript. Persian. Caption title. Written by Ibn Murād al-Ḥusaynī Muḥammad Zamān. Probably written in Iran. Paper; unpolished, slightly yellowed cream color laid paper with horizontal laid lines and no visible chain lines or watermarks; elaborate floral unwan in gold, light blue, red and dark blue; title in red in gold cartouche; text on fol. 1b-2a has interlinear gold design; text enclosed in ruled border of a thin blue and a wider gold line; black ink with rubrication; catchwords. Rieu, C. Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts, I, 337 Work is dividedn into twelve Majlis, each has its own unwan and colophon. Nastaʻliq; 29 lines in written area 25 x 15.7 cm. Fol. 1b-321a. Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, M56. Text block intact, lacks binding. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website. Near East scanned
Manuscript. Arabic and Persian; colophon in Turkish (Arabic script). Title from container. Scribe not identified. Probably written in Iran. Paper; cream color paper with no visible watermarks; elaborate unwans on fol. 1b and 2a with text enclosed in a wide ruled border of gold red and green; remainder of text enclosed in ruled border in gold black and red; interlinear Persian translation in red ink; verses are separated by gold discs. Individual sūrahs have titles in red and gold; extensive commentary in Persian in the margins throughout; black ink; Persian translation in red ink; catchwords. The Holy Koran in the Library of Congress, 17 Naskh (Qurʼānic text); nastaʻliq (Persian translation); 12 lines in written area 21 x 11.5 cm. Fol. 1b-325a. Library of Congress. Arabic manuscript, M133. Binding lacking; marbled endpapers in pastel colors and tan. Explicit/Colophon: Kemal Paşa merhumun ve çocuğum vakf olunmuṣtur, sene 1304, Recep. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
Manuscript. Persian and Arabic. Caption title. Scribe not identified. Gift of A.A. Kachif, Nov. 20, 1930. Written in Iran. Paper; thick, polished light cream color paper with no watermarks; elaborate floral unwan in gold, blue, red, and white with wide borders of a similar floral pattern and similar colors of fol. 1b and 2a; an outer border of two very thin lines accompanies all the text on facing pages; the text itself is enclosed in a border of black, white, gold, and red; floral section headings in gold, red and blue; lines of the text are separated by a cloud design in gold; text in black ink with small red overlining of some letters; catchwords. Nastaʻliq; in written area 13 x 7.5 cm. Fol. 1b-24a. Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, M100. Binding; dark brown half leather with lacquered papier-mâché floral design on a copper colored background surrounded by contrasting green, red and green borders also with floral designs; inner sides of cover also lacquered with a paintings of dark pink roses on a brown background. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
Manuscript. Persian. Each work has separate title ; title of first work fol. 1b; title for second work, fol. 82a. Each section has different date: Makhzan al-asrār dated 28 Rajab 954 [9 September 1547]; second section dated 4 Shaʻbān 954 [19 September 1547]. Name of scribe not indicated. Probably written in Iran or India. Paper: thick, cream color Oriental paper; text in columns in black ink with section headings and some marginal notes in red ink; second work has some section headings in gold ink ; text is surrounded by many marginal notes; no catchwords. Pasted label on page 2 of cover: "(1) Makhzan-al-asrār. (2) Ṣubḥat-al-asrār. (3) K̲h̲ulāṣat-al-khamsa. by Niẓāmī 945/1547. 22.3 c. 29.3 cms. 14 lines per page. 2 columns. Nastaʻlīḳ. Marginal notes." Nastaʻlīq; 14 lines in written area 10.5 x 6 cm. Folios 1b-121a. Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, [number]. Binding in dark blue leather with embossed diamond pattern front and back. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website. Incipit: كتاب مخزن الاسرس حضرت شيخ نظامي عليه الرحمة. Explicit/Colophon: تمت الكتاب بعون الله الوهاب تاريخ 4 شهر شعبان 954.
Selections from the Shāhnāmah of Firdawsī. This manuscript from the early 17th century contains selections from the Shāhnāmeh (Book of kings), the epic-historical work of Persian literature composed at the end of the tenth century by the poet Abū al-Qāsim Firdawsī (940-1020). This beloved epic of pre-Islamic Persia (present-day Iran) was widely read in Persia, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. The manuscript contains three half-page paintings showing different battles. The text is preceded by an introduction and table of contents (folios 1b-6b) and is written in black ink in a nastaʻliq script. The pages are in four columns of 25 lines each within a blue-cream-gold-cream-gold border. Rubrication is used, and there are catchwords on the recto pages. A few notes and corrections have been made in the margins. The colophon states that the manuscript was completed on Jamādī al-Avval, 14, 1027 (May 9, 1618); the place of writing is not given. The binding, newer and of Central Asian origin, is olive-green leather with embossed medallions, two in dark red, with a light-red leather spine. World Digital Library.
This manuscript in Persian is an untitled Sufi text on meditation containing both poetry and prose. It was completed in early 1520, probably in Herat (present-day Afghanistan) or Mashhad (present-day Iran). The colophon, which is in Arabic, gives the name of the scribe, Mīr 'Alī Ḥusaynī Haravī (circa 1476-1543). The manuscript is on a firm cream-colored paper inlaid into light cream (folios 1-8) or pale greenish-blue margin paper, with the writing enclosed within alternating gold and cream (or green) bands with black ruling. The margin paper is profusely decorated with floral and animal motifs. The text is in nastalīq script, eight lines to the page. The binding is contemporary leather with medallions. A former owner's stamp appears on folio 1a. Sufism, a mystical and introspective interpretation of Islam that emerged after the initial spread of the religion, combines Islamic teachings with gnosticism. The practice embraced the idea of enlightenment through spiritual knowledge, informed by pre-Islamic Greek, Zoroastrian, and Indian spiritual practices. By the 13th century, Sufi thought in the Persian-speaking world was expressed primarily through poetry or in poetic works of prose, such as this treatise. World Digital Library. Untitled Sufi text on meditation containing both poetry and prose.
This Persian manuscript dated 1025 AH (1616) contains two works on prosody by Nūr al-Dīn 'Abd al-Rahmān Jāmī (1414-92), as well as an incomplete, anonymous work on astronomy. Jāmī was a great poet, scholar, and mystic who lived most of his life in Herat, present-day Afghanistan. The 69 leaves of the manuscript are on a variety of papers: thin, pink-colored laid paper (folios 1a-31b); cream-colored laid paper (folios 32a-35b); pink-colored laid paper (folios 36a-37b); cream-color laid paper (folios 38a-40b); light-green-colored laid paper (folios 41a-45b); tan unpolished paper (folios 46a-53b); orange-to-rose-colored unpolished paper (folios 54a-61b); and dark-yellow-colored paper (folios 62a-69b). The text is in a nastaʻliq script, but different numbers of lines are used in different parts of the manuscript: 14 lines (folios 1b-40b), 10 lines (folios 41a-45b), and 12 lines (folios 46a-69b). Certain pages have circular figures showing classical poetic metrical schemes. The binding is newer, in a flexible leather without ornamentation. World Digital Library. Two works on prosody by the poet Jāmī, 1414-1492; and an incomplete, anonymous work on astronomy.
Caliph 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (circa 601-61) is one of the most revered religious and holy figures of Islam. In Iran, he is referred to by the honorary name Amir al-Muʼminin, which translates from Arabic as “Commander of the Faithful” and is used to refer to him in Persian. Written works by 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and sayings attributed to him are sacred to the Shiite faithful, particularly among Persian speakers. Shown here is an illuminated 18th-century manuscript copy of the Munājāt (Supplication) of ʻAli ibn Abī Ṭālib. Included are both the original Arabic and a translation into Persian. The text is written on a moderately heavy cream-colored paper in gold (folio 1b and 2a) and black ink (folio 2b to the end) within five borders. The borders are colored in, from the outermost to the innermost, in blue, red, gold, red, and green. The pages are divided into four boxes to accommodate the main text and the translation, three containing two lines and one containing one line, or seven lines for each page. The Arabic text, in naskhi script, is in larger boxes with elaborate interlinear decoration; the Persian translation, in nastaʻlīq script, is in narrower boxes with panels of floral decoration on either side. An unknown Persian text appears on folio 1a, part of which is missing along the left margin due to trimming and on the upper-right margin due to damage to the first folio (mended with some loss of this text but no damage to main text). The name and date "Vahīd Ḥusaynī 1209" (1794 or 1795) appears at the lower-left corner of the written area of folio 7b; an unknown Persian text in a later hand appears on the endpaper. World Digital Library. Munājāt (Supplication) of ʻAli ibn Abī Ṭālib.
Collected poems of Amīr Shāhī Sabzavarī. Dīvān-i Shāhī (Collection of poems by Shāhī) is a divan (collection) of verse by Amīr Shāhī Sabzavārī (died 1453; 857 A.H.), a prominent Persian poet of the Timurid era who composed in many of the classical forms of Persian poetry. Amīr Shāhī's poetry belongs to the tradition of Persian mystical love poetry. The collection includes poems composed in the ghazal (a metrical form expressing the pain of loss and the beauty of love), qaṣīda (lyric poem), and rubā'ī (quatrain) forms. Amīr Shāhī was born in Sabzevar (present-day Iran), but received his education in Herat (present-day Afghanistan), where he joined the court of Timur's son Shāhrukh (1377-1447) and that of Shāhrukh's son Baysunqur Mīrzā (1397-1433). Biographers refer to Amīr Shāhī as a superb poet, but also as a painter, musician, and calligrapher. His poetry was greatly admired by his celebrated contemporary ʻAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī (1414-92), as well as by later authors, such as Alīshīr Nawā'ī (1441-1501). In Tadhkirat al-Shuʻarā (Memorial of poets), Dawlatshāh Samarqandī (died circa 1494) describes the premature death of Baysunqur Mīrzā after a bout of drunken revelry, and singles out the elegy for him composed by Amīr Shāhī as having surpassed those of all his peers in its pathos. It is said that Amīr Shāhī wrote more than 12,000 verses, but his surviving anthology contains less than a tenth of that number. He himself is believed to have destroyed that portion of his verse he considered inferior. Amīr Shāhī died in Gorgan and is buried in Sabzevar in a khānaqāh (Sufi dervish lodge) founded by his ancestors. The present manuscript of Dīvān-i Shāhī is an illuminated, undated copy written in a flowing nastaʻlīq hand. An unusual feature of the work is the manner in which each poem is set off by the Arabic wa lahu ayḍan or ayḍan lahu (furthermore, he wrote). World Digital Library.