Walters Ms. W.634, Collection of poems (divan)

W.634

Collection of poems (divan)

Vernacular: ديوان حافظ

Authority name: Ḥāfiẓ, 14th cent.

As-written name: Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ al-Shīrāzī

Name, in vernacular: شمس الدين محمد حافظ الشيرازي

Note: Author dates preferred by cataloger: fl. 8th century AH / 14th CE

This manuscript is an illuminated copy of the Collection of poems (dīvān) by Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ al-Shīrāzī (fl. eighth century AH / fourteenth CE). Written in Safavid Iran in the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE in black nastaʿlīq script, the codex opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece that precedes a preface (dībāchah) (fols. 1b-2a). An illuminated headpiece (fol. 7b) inscribed fa-Llāh khayr ḥāfiẓan or "God is the best protector" (Sūrat Yūsuf, 12:64) introduces the initial verses of the Dīvān. There is an illuminated tailpiece inscribed with the work's final verses and a colophon with prayers for the prophet Muhammad and his family. The illumination of this manuscript exemplifies the Safavid style of the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE. The binding is not contemporary with the manuscript.

10th century AH / 16th CE

Iran

Book

Literary -- Poetry

The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.

1. Transliteration: tammat al-kitāb bi-ʿawn al-malik al-Wahhāb wa-ṣallá Allāh /1/ ʿalá khayr khalqih Muḥammad wa-ālih ajmaʿīn /2/ al-ṭayyibīn al-ṭāhirīn wa-al-ḥamd li-Llāh /3/ Rabb al-ʿālamīn /4/ m (= tamma) /5/
2. Comment: No date or name of scribe

Paper

Laid paper

Foliation: ii+200+i

Catchwords: Written obliquely on versos

14.5 cm wide by 23.5 cm high

7.5 cm wide by 14.5 cm high

1. Columns: 2
2. Ruled lines: 12-13
3. Framing lines in blue, red, gold, orange, and green

1. Title: Dīvān-i Ḥāfiẓ
2. Author: Ḥāfiẓ, 14th cent.
3. Incipit: حليمى كه بلبل دستان سراى بخوش نوايى... الا يا ايها الساقى ادر كاسا وناولها...
4. Text note: Opening verses preceded by a preface (dībāchah)
5. Hand note: Written in black nastaʿlīq script
6. Decoration note: Double-page illuminated frontispiece; illuminated headpiece and tailpiece; cloud-bands; wide frame; text interspersed with rectangular and triangular decorative panels with floral motifs

fol. 1b:

1. 
2. Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece
4. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece in the Safavid style. It precedes the preface (dībāchah) of the Dīvān.

fol. 2a:

1. 
2. Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece
4. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece in the Safavid style, which has been torn. It precedes the preface (dībāchah) of the Dīvān.

fol. 7b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated headpiece
3. Form: Incipit; headpiece
4. Label: This incipit has an illuminated headpiece inscribed in white ink: fa-Llāh khayr ḥāfiẓan or "God is the best protector" (Sūrat Yūsuf, 12:64). The headpiece exemplifies the Safavid style of illumination. On this page and the facing page (fol. 8a) there is gold interlinear illumination with polychrome floral motifs. The headpiece introduces the initial verses of the Dīvān.

fol. 199a:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated tailpiece and colophon
3. Form: Tailpiece; colophon
4. Label: This illuminated tailpiece contains the final verses of the Dīvān and a colophon with prayers for the prophet Muhammad and his family.

The binding is not original.

Modern black leather (no flap)

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Gacek, Adam. Persian Manuscripts in the Libraries of McGill University: Brief Union Catalogue. (Montreal: McGill University Libraries, 2005), no. 39.

Richard, Francis. Catalogue des manuscrits persans. (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1989), nos. 244, 270-4, 318; Vol. 2, 326-8.

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.