Description
This page contains two quatrains—poems made up of four lines. The diagonally written text in the center of the page is a poem addressed to a ruler, expressing hope for his success and the downfall of his enemies. The second poem is split between the horizontal panels at the top and bottom of the page. This quatrain praises the beauty of the writer’s beloved, saying that “her moonlike face can steal away a hundred besotted hearts.” At the right are calligraphic exercises displaying letters of the alphabet and the virtuoso skill of the calligrapher Sultan Muhammad Khandan, who signed the page in the triangle at the lower left of the inner text block.
Provenance
Mrs. Mehmed A. [Louise Dean] Simsar [1900–1986], Washington, DC, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (?-1983); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1983-)
Accession Number
1983.1115.a
Medium
ink, gold, and opaque watercolor on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 27.4 x 20 cm (10 13/16 x 7 7/8 in.); Text area: 18.7 x 10.9 cm (7 3/8 x 4 5/16 in.)
Classification
Manuscript
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Mehmed A. Simsar in memory of Dr. Mehmed A. Simsar
Related Artworks
Persian Quatrains (Rubayi) and Calligraphic Exercises (recto); Persian Verse (khamriyya) (verso)
Sultan Muhammad Khandan
Eleven Volumes of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra
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Bahram Gur and Azada, from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940-1019 or 1025)
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Meta-Discourse on the Teachings from the Treasury (Abidharmakosha-Bhashya)
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