Walters Ms. W.663, Five poems (quintet)

W.663

Five poems (quintet)

Ḫamse-yi Nevāʾī

Vernacular: خمسه نوائي

Authority name: Alisher Navoiĭ, 1441-1501

As-written name: ʿAlī Šīr Nevāʾī

Name, in vernacular: علي شير نوائي

Known as: Mir Ali Šir

Note: Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 906 AH / 1501 CE

This is a Safavid illuminated and illustrated collection of the Ḫamse (quintet), written in Çaġatāy (eastern Turkic), composed by the celebrated ʿAlī Šīr Nevāʾī (d. 906 AH / 1501 CE), and inspired by the Persian Khamse of Niẓāmī and Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī. This copy dates to the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE and has five double-page illustrations in the early Safavid court style. Each double-page illustration introduces the following individual poems: Kitāb-i ḫeyrāt ül-ebrār (fols. 1b-2a), Kitāb-i Ferhād va Şīrīn (fols. 45b-46a), Kitāb-i Mecnūn va Leylā (fols. 108b-109a), Kitāb-i Heşt bihişt (fols. 147b-148a), and Kitāb-i Iskendernāme (fols. 199b-200a). Each poem is also introduced by an illuminated incipit (fols. 2b, 46b, 109b, 148b, and 200b). The brown goatskin binding has a central lobed oval with pendants and cornerpieces brushed with gold. It is possibly attributable to the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE.

10th century AH / 16th CE

Turkey

Book

Literary -- Poetry

The primary language in this manuscript is Turkish.

Paper

Laid paper

Foliation: 276

Catchwords: Written on versos

16.5 cm wide by 23.5 cm high

11.0 cm wide by 17.5 cm high

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

fols. 1b - 276a:

1. Title: Ḫamse-yi Nevāʾī
2. Author: Alisher Navoiĭ, 1441-1501
3. Incipit: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم * رشتغه چكتى نيچه در يتيم...
4. Text note: Contains Kitāb-i ḫeyrāt ül-ebrār (fols. 1b-2a), Kitāb-i Ferhād va Şīrīn (fols. 45b-46a), Kitāb-i Mecnūn va Leylā (fols. 108b-109a), Kitāb-i Heşt bihişt (fols. 147b-148a), and Kitāb-i Iskendernāme (fols. 199b-200a)
5. Hand note: Written in black nastaʿlīq script with red section headings
6. Decoration note: Five double-page illustrations (fols. 1b-2a, 45b-46a, 108b-109a, 147b-148a, and 199b-200a); incipit pages with illuminated titlepieces (fols. 2b, 46b, 109b, 148b, and 200b); framing lines in blue, black, and gold

fol. 1b:

1. 
2. Title: A courtyard scene
3. Form: Illustration; frontispiece
4. Text: Ḫeyrāt ül-ebrār
5. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting a courtyard scene with courtiers carrying gifts.

fol. 2a:

1. 
2. Title: A courtyard scene
3. Form: Illustration; frontispiece
4. Text: Ḫeyrāt ül-ebrār
5. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting a courtyard scene with a prince receiving gifts. The inscription over the door on the left reads yā Mufattiḥ al-abwāb.

fol. 2b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated titlepiece
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Text: Ḫeyrāt ül-ebrār
5. Label: This incipit page has an illuminated titlepiece introducing the first poem of the Ḫamse, inscribed Kitāb-i ḫeyrāt ül-ebrār.

fol. 45b:

1. 
2. Title: Khusraw being entertained in his court with wine and music
3. Form: Illustration; frontispiece
4. Text: Ferhād va Şīrīn
5. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting Khusraw being entertained in his court with wine and music.

fol. 46a:

1. 
2. Title: Ferhād carrying Şīrīn and her dead horse on his shoulders
3. Form: Illustration; frontispiece
4. Text: Ferhād va Şīrīn
5. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting Ferhād carrying Şīrīn and her dead horse on his shoulders.

fol. 46b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated titlepiece
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Text: Ferhād va Şīrīn
5. Label: This incipit page has an illuminated titlepiece introducing the second poem of the Ḫamse, inscribed Kitāb-i Ferhād va Şīrīn.

fol. 108b:

1. 
2. Title: Leylā in her pavilion with her attendants
3. Form: Illustration; frontispiece
4. Text: Mecnūn va Leylā
5. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting Leylā in her pavilion with her attendants.

fol. 109a:

1. 
2. Title: Mecnūn in the company of wild animals
3. Form: Illustration; frontispiece
4. Text: Mecnūn va Leylā
5. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece, depicting Mecnūn in the company of wild animals.

fol. 109b:

1. 
2. Title: Inicpit page with illuminated titlepiece
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Text: Mecnūn va Leylā
5. Label: This incipit page has an illuminated titlepiece, introducing the third poem of the Ḫamse, inscribed Kitāb-i Mecnūn va Leylā.

fol. 147b:

1. 
2. Title: Bahrām Gūr hunting deer while Fitnah plays the harp
3. Form: Illustration; frontispiece
4. Text: Heşt bihişt
5. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting Bahrām Gūr hunting deer while Fitnah plays the harp.

fol. 148a:

1. 
2. Title: Bahrām Gūr being entertained by his maid
3. Form: Illustration; frontispiece
4. Text: Heşt bihişt
5. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting Bahrām Gūr being entertained by his maid.

fol. 148b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated titlepiece
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Text: Heşt bihişt
5. Label: This incipit page has an illuminated titlepiece introducing the fourth poem of the Ḫamse, inscribed Kitāb-i Heşt bihişt.

fol. 199b:

1. 
2. Title: Alexander the Great at the side of Darius, the killed Persian king
3. Form: Illustration; frontispiece
4. Text: Iskendernāme
5. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting Alexander the Great (Iskender) at the side of Darius (Dārā), the killed Persian king.

fol. 200a:

1. 
2. Title: Alexander the Great in search of the fountain of life
3. Form: Illustration; frontispiece
4. Text: Iskendernāme
5. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting Alexander the Great (Iskender) in search of the fountain of life.

fol. 200b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated titlepiece
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Text: Iskendernāme
5. Label: This incipit page has an illuminated titlepiece introducing the fifth poem of the Ḫamse, inscribed Kitāb-i Iskendernāme.

The binding date is undetermined.

Possibly dates to the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE; brown goatskin (no flap); dentelle style with central lobed oval, pendants, and cornerpieces brushed with gold; doublures of a similar pattern decorated in gold and blue

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Rieu, Charles. Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the British Museum. (London: British Museum, 1888), 292.

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.