Walters Ms. W.625, Collection of poems (masnavi)

W.625

Collection of poems (masnavi)

Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī

Vernacular: مثنوى معنوى

Authority name: Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Maulana, 1207-1273

As-written name: Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Bahāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī

Supplied name: Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (d. 672 AH / 1273 CE)

Name, in vernacular: جلال الدين محمد بن بهاء الدين محمد رومى

Note: Author name supplied by cataloger

This is an illuminated copy of the collection of poems known as Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī by Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (d. 672 AH / 1273 CE), likely produced in Timurid Iran. The Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī, which is a didactic poetical work divided into six books or booklets (daftars), is of particular importance in the tradition of Sufism. According to the colophon, written in Arabic, this copy was completed in 865 AH / 1461 CE by Aḥmad ibn Ḥājjī Abī Bakr al-Kātib (fol. 311a). Each of the six books is introduced by a preface in Arabic or Persian, executed largely in gold tawqīʿ script (fols. 1b-2a, 51b-52a, 95b-96a, 155b-156a, 203b-204a, and 256b-257a). The text proper is written in black nastaʿlīq script, with illuminated titlepieces inscribed in a decorated New Abbasid (broken cursive) style (fols. 2b, 52b, 96b, 156b, 204b, and 257b). The dark red leather binding is not original to the manuscript and dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.

[Dhū al-]Ḥijjah 865 AH / 1461 CE

Iran

As-written name: Aḥmad ibn Ḥājjī Abī Bakr al-Kātib

Name, in vernacular: احمد بن حاجي ابي بكر الكاتب

Book

Literary -- Prose

Literary -- Poetry

The primary language in this manuscript is Persian. The secondary language of this manuscript is Arabic.

fol. 311a:

1. Transliteration: tamma al-kitābu al-Mathnawī al-maʿnawī al-mawlawī wa-al-ḥamd li-Llāh taʿālá wa-ḥusn tawfīqih /1/ wa-al-ṣal<ā>h wa-al-salām wa-la-taḥīyah wa-al-ikrāmu ʿalá khayr khalqih Muḥammad wa-ālih wa-ṣaḥbih /2/ ajmaʿīn al-ṭayyibīn al-ṭāhirīn wa-sallama taslīman /3/ ʿalá yad aḍʿaf ʿibād Allāh taʿālá /4/ wa-aḥwajihim ilá ʿafwih wa-ghufrānih /5/ Aḥmad ibn Ḥājjī Abī Bakr al-Kātib ʿafā Allāh /6/ ʿanhumā fī ḥijjah [sic] khams wa-sittīn wa-thamānimiʾah /7/ Allahumma ighfir li-ṣāḥibih wa-li-kātibih /8/ wa-li-qāriʾih wa-li-jamīʿ al-muʾminīn /9/ wa-al-muʾmināt /10/ m [=tamma] /11/
2. Comment: In Arabic tawqīʿ script giving the title of the work, the scribe's name, and the date of copying

Paper

Buff-colored laid paper

Foliation: iii+311+iii

Catchwords: Written obliquely on versos

16.0 cm wide by 24.5 cm high

10.5 cm wide by 16.0 cm high

1. Columns: 4
2. Ruled lines: 25
3. Framing lines in gold, blue, and black

fols. 1b - 311a:

1. Title: Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī
2. Author: Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Maulana, 1207-1273
3. Scribe: Aḥmad ibn Ḥājjī Abī Bakr al-Kātib
4. Incipit: بشنو ا زنى چون حكاية ميكند...
5. Text note: Text divided into six books, each introduced by a preface in Arabic or Persian executed in gold tawqīʿ script (fols. 1b-2a, 51b-52a, 95b-96a, 155b-156a, 203b-204a, and 256b-257a)
6. Hand note: Polychrome text (black, gold, and blue) written mainly in black nastaʿlīq script but also in gold and blue tawqīʿ script on fols. 1b-2a, 51b-52a, 95b-96a, 155b-156a, 203b-204a, and 256b-257a; inscriptions in the upper panels of fols. 2b-3a, 52b, 96b, 156b, 204b, and 257b written in decorated New Abbasid (broken cursive) style
7. Decoration note: Gold and blue medallion (no inscription) (fol. 1a); double-page illuminated frontispiece with the beginning of the first book in nastaʿlīq script with decorated New Abbasid (broken cursive) style and inscriptions in four compartments (fols. 2b-3a); illuminated prefaces to the six books in gold tawqīʿ script with some words highlighted in blue (fols. 1b-2a, 51b-52a, 95b-96a, 155b-156a, 203b-204a, and 256b-257a); five titlepieces introducing the books with an inscription in decorated New Abbasid (broken cursive) style (fol. 52b: al-mujallad al-thānī min al-Mathnawī; fol. 96b: al-mujallad al-thālith min al-Mathnawī; fol. 156b: al-mujallad al-rābiʿ; fol. 204b: al-mujallad al-khāmis min al-Mathnawī; fol. 257b: al-mujallad al-sādis); floral and foliate decoration in gold (fols. 1a, 51a, 95a, 203a, and 311a)

fol. 1a:

1. 
2. Title: Frontispiece with illuminated medallion
3. Form: Frontispiece; medallion
4. Label: This page, which opens the book, has an illuminated medallion outlined in blue with radiating blue lines. The medallion is surrounded by illuminated floral decoration.

fol. 1b:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the first book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Arabic, introducing the first book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī). The text is written in gold and blue tawqīʿ script and there is interlinear decoration. The text area is framed by an illuminated border of gilt and polychrome decoration on a blue ground.

fol. 2a:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the first book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Arabic, introducing the first book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī). The text is written in gold and blue tawqīʿ script and there is interlinear decoration. The text area is framed by an illuminated border of gilt and polychrome decoration on a blue ground.

fol. 2b:

1. 
2. Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece
4. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece with inscriptions in decorated New Abbasid (broken cursive) style of the first book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī).

fol. 3a:

1. 
2. Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece
4. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece with inscriptions in decorated New Abbasid (broken cursive) style of the first book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī).

fol. 51a:

1. 
2. Title: Finispiece of the first book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Finispiece
4. Label: This illuminated page with floral decoration ends the first book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī).

fol. 51b:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the second book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Persian, to the second book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī). The text area is framed by a border of gilt and polychrome decoration on a blue ground. Medallions are in the margins.

fol. 52a:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the second book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Persian, to the second book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī). The text area is framed by a border of gilt and polychrome decoration on a blue ground. Medallions are in the margins.

fol. 52b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit with illuminated titlepiece introducing the second book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Label: This illuminated titlepiece introduces the second book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī), with the inscription in decorated New Abbasid (broken cursive) style reading: al-mujallad al-thānī min al-Mathnawī.

fol. 95a:

1. 
2. Title: Explicit of the second book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Explicit
4. Label: This is the illuminated final page of the second book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī).

fol. 95b:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the third book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Arabic, to the third book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī). The text is written in gold tawqīʿ script. The text area is framed by a border of gilt and polychrome decoration on a blue ground.

fol. 96a:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the third book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Arabic, to the third book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī). The text is written in gold tawqīʿ script. The text area is framed by a border of gilt and polychrome decoration on a blue ground.

fol. 96b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit with illuminated titlepiece introducing the third book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Label: This illuminated titlepiece introduces the third book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī).

fol. 155b:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the fourth book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Arabic, to the fourth book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī). The text is written in gold tawqīʿ script. The text area is framed by a border of gilt and polychrome decoration on a blue ground.

fol. 156a:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the fourth book of the Collection of poems (masnavi).
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Arabic, to the fourth book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī). The text is written in gold tawqīʿ script. The text area is framed by a border of gilt and polychrome decoration on a blue ground.

fol. 156b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit with illuminated titlepeice introducing the fourth book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Incipit; titlepeice
4. Label: This illuminated titlepiece introduces the fourth book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī).

fol. 203b:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the fifth book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Persian, to the fifth book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī). The text is written in gold tawqīʿ script. The text area is framed by a border of gilt and polychrome decoration on a blue ground.

fol. 204a:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the fifth book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Persian, to the fifth book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī). The text is written in gold tawqīʿ script. The text area is framed by a border of gilt and polychrome decoration on a blue ground.

fol. 204b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit with illuminated titlepiece introducing the fifth book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Incipt; titlepiece
4. Label: This illuminated titlepiece introduces the fifth book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī).

fol. 256b:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the sixth book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Persian, to the sixth book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī).

fol. 257a:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated preface to the sixth book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Preface
4. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated preface, written in Persian, to the sixth book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī).

fol. 257b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit with illuminated titlepiece introducing the sixth book of the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Label: This illuminated titlepiece introduces the sixth book (daftar) of the Collection of poems (Mas̱navī-i maʿnavī).

fol. 311a:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated colophon to the Collection of poems (masnavi)
3. Form: Colophon
4. Label: According to this colophon, written in Arabic, the manuscript was completed in 865 AH / 1461 CE by Aḥmad ibn Ḥājjī Abī Bakr al-Kātib. It reads as follows: tamma al-kitābu al-Mathnawī al-maʿnawī al-mawlawī wa-al-ḥamd li-Llāh taʿālá wa-ḥusn tawfīqih /1/ wa-al-ṣal<ā>h wa-al-salām wa-la-taḥīyah wa-al-ikrāmu ʿalá khayr khalqih Muḥammad wa-ālih wa-ṣaḥbih /2/ ajmaʿīn al-ṭayyibīn al-ṭāhirīn wa-sallama taslīman /3/ ʿalá yad aḍʿaf ʿibād Allāh taʿālá /4/ wa-aḥwajihim ilá ʿafwih wa-ghufrānih /5/ Aḥmad ibn Ḥājjī Abī Bakr al-Kātib ʿafā Allāh /6/ ʿanhumā fī ḥijjah [sic] khams wa-sittīn wa-thamānimiʾah /7/ Allahumma ighfir li-ṣāḥibih wa-li-kātibih /8/ wa-li-qāriʾih wa-li-jamīʿ al-muʾminīn /9/ wa-al-muʾmināt /10/ m [=tamma] /11/

The binding is not original.

Probably dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE; dark red leather (with flap); gold-tooled frames and cornerpieces

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Richard, Francis. Catalogue des manuscrits persans. (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1989), nos. 265-7, 269.

Gacek, Adam. Persian Manuscripts in the Libraries of McGill University: Brief Union Catalogue. (Montreal: McGill University Libraries, 2005), no. 154.

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

The Walters Art Museum

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.