Manuscript. Persian and Arabic. Title from colophon. Scribe not identified. Gift of Cyrus Ebrahim Zadeh, Nov. 9, 2009. Written in Iran? Paper: yellowish, polished cream color paper with no visible watermarks; black ink with highlighting and overlining in purple; catchwords. Naskh; 19-21 lines in written area 16.5 x 9 cm. Folio 1b-148a; Folio 146b-147b blank. Library of Congress. Manuscript, M304. Binding: flexible tan leather binding with embossed frame lines.
Manuscript. Persian. Caption title on fol. 1b. Scribe not indicated. Gift of Amir Jafar and Parvindokt Hasheminejad, donated by their son, Mehdi Hasheminejad, item belonged to Amir Jafar Hasheminejad's collection and originated from Qajar era minister, Mehdi Lahooti, Badaye Negar's holdings. May 31, 2019. Written in Iran. Paper; cream color commercial paper with no visible watermarks; black ink; catchwords. Nastaʻlīq; 17 lines in written area 16.5 x 11.5 cm. 8 blank pages; fol. 1b-95a; 28 blank pages. Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, [unnumbered]. Binding; supple brown leather.
Manuscript. Persian Title from fol. 2a. Scribe not identified. Written in Iran? Paper; unpolished cream color paper with not visible watermarks; text of fol. 1b-3a enclosed in ruled border of blue and gold, rest of manuscript is without borders; black ink with rubrication and red overlining; numerous notes, corrections, etc. written on squares of very thin blue paper and pasted over parts of the text; catchwords. Rieu, C. Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts, I, 337 Nastaʻliq; 37 lines in written area 30.5 x 14 cm. Fol. 1b-348b (incomplete). Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, M95. Disbound; originally bound at top edge. 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.
Masnavi-e Manawi (Spiritual rhyming couplets) is the famous poetic collection of the medieval ecstatic mystic scholar and Sufi, Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (1207-73), known in Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran as Mowlana or Mawlānā Jalaluddin Balkhi and in the West as Rumi. This Persian manuscript in nastaliq script is a complete 15th century copy of Masnavi, with all six volumes. Narratives, homilies, and commentaries appear throughout. Many stories have stock characters, such as beggars, prophets, kings, and animals. Ethical concerns, traditional wisdom, and stories filled with jokes, including ones about sexuality and ethnic and gender stereotypes, appear throughout Masnavi. Prose pieces are arranged extemporaneously, sometimes breaking off mid-narrative and resuming later. Masnavi begins with Rumi's famous "Song of the Reed," which is the 18-verse prologue. This song, scholars have argued, contains the essence of the work. A mystic who has become separated from God is searching for his origin, and longs to find it again; Rumi suggests in this song that love of God is the only way to return to that state. The first story of Masnavi expands on "Song of the Reed," and is about a king whose love for a sick slave cures her illness. All six books have their own introductions. The introduction to book one, written in Arabic, defines Masnavi as "the roots of religion" and "uncovering the secrets of knowledge and union." Masnavi's contents are specified as a creed, holy law, proof of God, cure for man's ills, and mysticism. Rumi also praises the supremacy of God: "He is the most protective and most merciful of all." The other introductions are mostly in Persian (the one to book three is partly in Arabic) and some are part prose and part verse. In each one, Rumi praises his leading disciple and successor, Ḥosām-al-Din Chalabi (died 1284), and his contribution to Masnavi. The work has a mixed verse-and-prose conclusion in Persian and Arabic entitled "The seventh book of the books of Masnavi," which is not part of the known original of Masnavi; however, there are claims for a seventh book. If true, then this manuscript is a rare copy. Rumi's full name and the year of publication, 1435, appear on the last page of book six. The place of publication is not given; it was probably somewhere in Khorasan. Each narrative has a rubricated heading. Pages are not numbered. World Digital Library.
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.
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.
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. 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.