زاد المعاد

A Manuscript of Zad al-Ma'ad by 'Allamah Majlesi

This copy of Zad al-Ma'ad by 'Allamah Majlesi opens with an illuminated frontispiece with a large illuminated sarlawh at the beginning of the text. It is copied in naskh script in 22 lines to a page in black ink. A large section of the text is translated into Persian after each line in nastaliq script in red ink. The last 17 folios are in Persian. The colophon includes the completion date of the book by the author, Ramadan 1107 H (April 1696) in Isfahan. The scribe signs his name Muhammad Hashim al-Lu'lu'i al-Isfahani, copied in 1130 H (1717). The lacquer binding, which belongs to a later phase, is decorated with a bird perching on a rose branch. It is signed by the artist Lutf 'Ali Shirazi and dated 1279 (1862). The signature of `Abd al-Vahhab, Chief Illuminator, and the date1300 H (1882) is written minutely in the lower border. The inside covers are plain reddish-brown with gilded borders.

1696, 1862

Manuscripts

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of A. Soudavar in memory of his mother Ezzat-Malek Soudavar

2014.395

Watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer over metallic layer on pasteboard (covers) Ink, gold, and colors on paper (text)

20.3 × 13.2 × 3.7 cm (8 × 5 3/16 × 1 7/16 in.) Text area: 15.4 × 8.7 cm (6 1/16 × 3 7/16 in.)

Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2014. Note: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market.

Harvard Art Museums