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.
Manuscript. Persian. Title supplied by cataloger. Scribe not identified. Written in Central Asia. Paper; lightly polished cream color laid paper with very faint horizontal chain lines on some pages and no visible watermarks; elaborate floral unwan in gold, blue and red with pinkish flowers; text enclosed in ruled border of blue, gold, red and blue; text is divided into hemistichs separated by wide columns which vary in color but are primarily reddish coral color; margins of all facing pages have floral designs in various colors which vary from page to page; black ink with elaborate section titles. Nastaʻliq; 14 lines in written area 15 x 7.5 cm. Fol. 1b-102a. Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, M39. Modern dark brown leather binding with embossed center medallions front and back. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
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. Caption title. Scribe not identified. Probably written in India. Paper; thin, polished laid paper with horizontal laid lines and no visible chain lines or watermarks; both sections have almost identical carpet pages with floral unwan in gold, blue, reddish orange and white, with titles in white in gold cartouche, carpet pages have elaborate floral design in margins; text enclosed in a ruled border of blue, gold and orange; black ink with rubrication and some overlining in red; catchwords. Rieu, C. Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts, I, 91 Small naskh; 32 lines in written area 24 x 13.5 cm. Fol. 1b-170a, 171b-199b. Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, M149. Binding; lacquered morocco leather with embossed center medallions with a wide embossed gold inner border and a narrow stamped floral outer border front and back; text block loose in binding. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.