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Walters Ms. W.612, Five poems (quintet)

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Shelf mark

W.612


Manuscript

Five poems (quintet)


Text title
Khamsah-i Niẓāmī

Vernacular: خمسه نظامى


Author

Authority name: Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 41-1202 or 3

Supplied name: Ilyās ibn Yūsuf Niẓāmī Ganjavī

Name, in vernacular: الياس بن يوسف نظامى گنجوى

Note: Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 605 AH / 1209 CE


Abstract

This illuminated and illustrated Safavid copy of the Khamsah (quintet) of Niẓāmī Ganjavī (d. 605 AH / 1209 CE) dates to the eleventh century AH / seventeenth CE. The codex opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a). Each of the five poems begins with an illuminated headpiece (fols. 32b, 117b, 176b, 240b, 331b), and there are thirty-six illustrations. The lacquer binding is not original to the manuscript.


Date

11th century AH / 17th CE


Origin

Iran


Form

Book


Genre

Literary -- Poetry


Language:

The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.


Extent

Foliation: i+380


Collation

Catchwords: Written obliquely on versos


Dimensions

16.5 cm wide by 27.0 cm high


Written surface

10.5 cm wide by 19.5 cm high


Layout
  1. Columns: 4
  2. Ruled lines: 20
  3. Framing lines in blue, red, gold, and black

Contents:
fols. 1b - 380a:
  1. Title: Khamsah-i Niẓāmī
  2. Author: Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 41-1202 or 3
  3. Incipit: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم هست كليد در كنج حكيم...
  4. Text note: Contains: Makhzan al-asrār (fols. 1b-31b); Khusraw va Shīrīn (fols. 32b-117a); Laylá va Majnūn (fols. 117b-176a); Haft paykar (fols. 176b-240a); and Iskandarnāmah, divided into Sharafnāmah (fols. 240b-331a) and Iqbālnāmah (fols. 331b-380a); title of each poem not indicated; some folios supplied later
  5. Hand note: Written in black nastaʿlīq script with chapter headings in red
  6. Decoration note: Thirty-six illustrations; double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a); headpieces without inscriptions; framing lines in blue, red, gold, and black

Decoration:

fol. 1b:

  1. W.612, fol. 1b
  2. Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece
  3. Form: Frontispiece
  4. Text: Makhzan al-asrār
  5. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece that begins the first poem of the Khamsah, Makhzan al-asrār.

fol. 23b:

  1. W.612, fol. 23b
  2. Title: Two quarreling scholars
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Makhzan al-asrār

fol. 32b:

  1. W.612, fol. 32b
  2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated headpiece
  3. Form: Incipit; headpiece
  4. Text: Khusraw va Shīrīn
  5. Label: This incipit page has an illuminated headpiece beginning the second poem of the Khamsah: Khusraw va Shīrīn.

fol. 40b:

  1. W.612, fol. 40b
  2. Title: Khusraw before his father, Hurmuz, asking for forgiveness
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Khusraw va Shīrīn

fol. 48a:

  1. W.612, fol. 48a
  2. Title: Khusraw watching Shīrīn bathing
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Khusraw va Shīrīn

fol. 57a:

  1. W.612, fol. 57a
  2. Title: Khusraw kills a lion in the presence of Shīrīn
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Khusraw va Shīrīn

fol. 72b:

  1. W.612, fol. 72b
  2. Title: Farhād is summoned to dig a channel through a rocky mountain
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Khusraw va Shīrīn

fol. 79b:

  1. W.612, fol. 79b
  2. Title: Farhād carries Shīrīn and her dead horse on his shoulders
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Khusraw va Shīrīn

fol. 89b:

  1. W.612, fol. 89b
  2. Title: Courtiers at Khusraw’s palace
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Khusraw va Shīrīn

fol. 98b:

  1. W.612, fol. 98b
  2. Title: A woman offers wine to Khusraw
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Khusraw va Shīrīn

fol. 109b:

  1. W.612, fol. 109b
  2. Title: Shīrūyah kills his father, Khusraw, because of his love for Shīrīn
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Khusraw va Shīrīn

fol. 110b:

  1. W.612, fol. 110b
  2. Title: Shīrīn commits suicide after the murder of Khusraw
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Khusraw va Shīrīn

fol. 117b:

  1. W.612, fol. 117b
  2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated headpiece
  3. Form: Incipit; headpiece
  4. Text: Laylá va Majnūn
  5. Label: This incipit page has an illuminated headpiece beginning the third poem of the Khamsah: Laylá va Majnūn.

fol. 160b:

  1. W.612, fol. 160b
  2. Title: Laylá and Majnūn meet in the wilderness
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Laylá va Majnūn

fol. 176b:

  1. W.612, fol. 176b
  2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated headpiece
  3. Form: Incipit; headpiece
  4. Text: Haft paykar
  5. Label: This incipit page has an illuminated headpiece beginning the fourth poem of the Khamsah: Haft paykar.

fol. 186b:

  1. W.612, fol. 186b
  2. Title: Nuʿmān, father of Bahrām Gūr, throws a builder from the roof of the palace Khavarnaq
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Haft paykar

fol. 195b:

  1. W.612, fol. 195b
  2. Title: Bahrām Gūr kills a wild ass while Fitnah plays the harp
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Haft paykar

fol. 202a:

  1. W.612, fol. 202a
  2. Title: Bahrām Gūr entertains Shīdah, the builder of the seven pavilions
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Haft paykar

fol. 209a:

  1. W.612, fol. 209a
  2. Title: Bahrām Gūr in the yellow pavilion
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Haft paykar

fol. 212b:

  1. W.612, fol. 212b
  2. Title: Bahrām Gūr in the green pavilion
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Haft paykar

fol. 215a:

  1. W.612, fol. 215a
  2. Title: Bahrām Gūr in the red pavilion
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Haft paykar

fol. 221a:

  1. W.612, fol. 221a
  2. Title: Bahrām Gūr in the sandalwood pavilion
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Haft paykar

fol. 226a:

  1. W.612, fol. 226a
  2. Title: Bahrām Gūr in the white pavilion
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Haft paykar

fol. 232a:

  1. W.612, fol. 232a
  2. Title: Bahrām Gūr meets a shepherd who hung his dog on a tree
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Haft paykar

fol. 236a:

  1. W.612, fol. 236a
  2. Title: The hanging of Bahrām Gūr’s unjust vizier
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Haft paykar

fol. 240b:

  1. W.612, fol. 240b
  2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated headpiece
  3. Form: Incipit; headpiece
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah
  5. Label: This incipit page has an illuminated headpiece beginning Sharafnāmah, the first half of the fifth poem of the Khamsah: Iskandarnāmah.

fol. 253a:

  1. W.612, fol. 253a
  2. Title: Alexander the Great enthroned
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah

fol. 259a:

  1. W.612, fol. 259a
  2. Title: Alexander the Great fights the Ethiopians
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah

fol. 268a:

  1. W.612, fol. 268a
  2. Title: An official reads a letter to Alexander the Great, sent to him by Darius
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah

fol. 288b:

  1. W.612, fol. 288b
  2. Title: Nushābah entertained by Alexander the Great
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah

fol. 292a:

  1. W.612, fol. 292a
  2. Title: Alexander the Great, unable to destroy a fortress, consults a hermit
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah

fol. 296a:

  1. W.612, fol. 296a
  2. Title: Alexander the Great at a cave where Kay Khusraw is buried that emits flames
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah

fol. 301b:

  1. W.612, fol. 301b
  2. Title: Alexander the Great hunts on his way to China
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah

fol. 307b:

  1. W.612, fol. 307b
  2. Title: Alexander the Great meets the king of China
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah

fol. 320b:

  1. W.612, fol. 320b
  2. Title: Alexander the Great defeats the Russian army
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah

fol. 328a:

  1. W.612, fol. 328a
  2. Title: An official weighs the precious stone Alexander the Great found in the darkness
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah

fol. 329a:

  1. W.612, fol. 329a
  2. Title: A man tells Alexander the Great a story of a country in which there is no death
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Sharafnāmah

fol. 331b:

  1. W.612, fol. 331b
  2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated headpiece
  3. Form: Incipit; headpiece
  4. Text: Iqbālnāmah
  5. Label: This incipit page has an illuminated headpiece beginning Iqbālnāmah, the second half of the fifth poem of the Khamsah: Iskandarnāmah.

fol. 339a:

  1. W.612, fol. 339a
  2. Title: Alexander the Great listens to a story about a prince whose wife was sick
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Iqbālnāmah

fol. 343b:

  1. W.612, fol. 343b
  2. Title: A rich merchant is summoned before a Greek king and his prime minister
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Iqbālnāmah

fol. 345b:

  1. W.612, fol. 345b
  2. Title: Hermes, in front of Alexander the Great, and the Greek scholars who disagreed with him
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Iqbālnāmah

fol. 374b:

  1. W.612, fol. 374b
  2. Title: The funeral procession of Alexander the Great
  3. Form: Illustration
  4. Text: Iqbālnāmah

Binding

The binding is not original.

Lacquer boards with floral design (no flap)


Acquisition

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest


Bibliography

Storey, C. A. Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Vol. 2. (London: Luzac, 1927- ), 438-495.


Contributors

Principal cataloger: Gacek, Adam

Catalogers: Landau, Amy; Smith, Sita

Editor: Bockrath, Diane

Conservators: Jewell, Stephanie; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Barrera, Christina; Emery, Doug; Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William; Simpson, Shreve; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Valle, Chiara


Publisher

The Walters Art Museum


License

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.