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.
Manuscript. Persian. Title from fol. 2a. Scribe not identified. Place of writing not determined; probably Iran or Turkey. Paper; light cream color laid paper with no visible chain lines or watermarks; elaborate floral unwan in gold, blue and red; text enclosed in ruled border of blue and gold; numerous illustrations; black ink with rubrication and overlining; catchwords. Naskh; 21 lines in written area 17 x 8.5 cm. Numerous illustrations and tables on fol. 2-19; some small illustrations in body of text. Fol. 2b-238a. Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, [unnumbered]. Modern dark brown leather binding. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
Manuscript. Persian. Title from fol. 1b. Pagination: 1st work: fol. 1b-26a (14 lines); 2nd work: fol. 27b-43a. (15 lines) First work written by ʻAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Shīrāzī; scribe of second work not identified. Gift of Cyrus Ebrahim Zadeh, Nov. 9, 2009. First work written in al-Ṭihrān [Tehran], Iran; second work written in Iran, city not identified. Paper: yellowish, polished cream color commercial paper with no visible watermarks; black ink, with rubrication and some overlining in red; some pages folded over; catchwords. First work: Cursive Naskh; 14 lines in written area 16 x 9 cm.; second work: Nastaʻliq; 15 lines in written area 16.5 x 9.5 cm. First work: Cursive Naskh; second work: Nastaʻliq. Astronomical drawings throughout in red and black. Folio 1b-26a; Folio 27b-43a. Library of Congress. Manuscript, M305. Binding: blue grain over cardboard sides, dark blue cloth spine.