خمسۀ نظامی

Walters Ms. W.607, Five poems (quintet)

Walters Ms. W.607, Five poems (quintet)

Khamsah-i Niẓāmī

خمسه نظامي

Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 41-1202 or 3 (author)

Ilyās ibn Yūsuf Niẓāmī Ganjavī (author)

الياس بن يوسف نظامي گنجوي (author)

Yādkār al-Kātib (scribe)

This is an illuminated and illustrated Safavid copy of four of the five poems that comprise the Khamsah (quintet) of Niẓāmī Ganjavī (d. 605 AH / 1209 CE). It does not include Laylá va Majnūn. The text was copied in black nastaʿlīq script by Yādkār the Calligrapher (al-Kātib) in 935 AH / 1529 CE. An illuminated double-page frontispiece opens the codex (fols. 1b-2a), and each poem is introduced with an illuminated headpiece (fols. 33b, 119b, 180b, and 261b). The twenty-seven illustrations appear to have been repainted in India during the twelfth or early thirteenth century AH / eighteenth or early nineteenth CE. The manuscript is bound in late Zand lacquer boards with figural scenes depicting Bahrām Gūr hunting and Khusraw watching Shīrīn bathing. The upper board illustrating Bahrām Gūr is dated 12[0]5 AH / 1790-1 CE. For full description, see http://www.thedigitalwalters.org/Data/WaltersManuscripts/html/W607/description.html

The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.

Twenty-seven illustrations; double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a); four illuminated headpieces (fols. 33b, 119b, 180b, 261b); illuminated borders; framing lines in blue, red, green, gold, and black

fol. 1b Double-page illuminated frontispiece Frontispiece This is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece inscribed with the title of the first poem of the Khamsah, Makhzan-i asrār.

fol. 2a Double-page illuminated frontispiece Frontispiece This is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece inscribed with the title of the first poem of the Khamsah, Makhzan-i asrār.

fol. 4b The Prophet Muhammad's ascension Illustration The Prophet Muhammad is depicted on Buraq, led by the angel Gabriel ascending to the heavens.

fol. 15a Nūshirvān and his prime minster Dastūr Illustration Riding through a ruined village, the Sasanian Nūshirvān and his prime minster Dastūr see two owls talking.

fol. 17a An old woman implores Sultan Sanjar for help Illustration An old woman approaches the throne of Sultan Sanjar to recount her oppression.

fol. 26a An old man brought before a tyrant Illustration

fol. 29b An old woman speaking with a confidant of King Jamshīd Illustration At a court gathering, an old woman speaks with a confidant of King Jamshīd.

fol. 33b Incipit with illuminated headpiece Incipit; headpiece This incipit page has an illuminated headpiece; it begins the second poem of the Khamsah, Khusraw va Shīrīn.

fol. 37a Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad Atābak enthroned Illustration

fol. 45b Shāhpūr visiting Shīrīn Illustration Shāhpūr is shown before the Armenian princess Shīrīn at a court gathering.

fol. 62b Ascension of Khusraw to the throne Illustration

fol. 68a Khusraw and Shīrīn enthroned Illustration

fol. 78b Farhād carves an image of Shīrīn in rock Illustration

fol. 86a Khusraw announces his marriage to Shakar Illustration

fol. 93a Khusraw and Shīrīn in the palace Illustration

fol. 104b Reconciliation of Khusraw and Shīrīn Illsutration

fol. 110a Shīrūyah stabs Khusraw, his father Illustration

fol. 119b Incipit with illuminated headpiece Incipit; headpiece This incipit page has an illuminated headpiece; it begins the fourth poem of the Khamsah, Haft paykar.

fol. 134b Bahrām Gūr seizes the crown after having killed two lions Illustration

fol. 136b Bahrām Gūr kills a wild ass Illustration

fol. 145b Bahrām Gūr in the black pavilion Illustration

fol. 154a Bahrām Gūr in the yellow pavilion Illustration

fol. 160a Bahrām Gūr in the blue pavilion Illustration

fol. 165a Bahrām Gūr in the sandalwood pavilion Illustration

fol. 168a Bahrām Gūr in the white pavilion Illustration

fol. 180b Incipit with illuminated headpiece Incipit; headpiece This incipit page has an illuminated headpiece; it begins the Sharafnāmah, the first part of the fifth poem of the Khamsah, the Iskandarnāmah.

fol. 193b Alexander the Great fighting the Ethiopians Illustration

fol. 197b Victory of Alexander the Great over the Ethiopians Illustration

fol. 210b Death of King Darius Illustration

fol. 223b Alexander the Great admires his portrait ordered by Queen Nūshābah Illustration

fol. 258b Alexander the Great at the fountain of life with the prophets Khiḍr and Ilyās Illustration Alexander the Great (Iskandar) searches for the fountain of life and passes by a cave, before which sit the prophets Khiḍr and Ilyās.

fol. 261b Incipit with illuminated headpiece Incipit; headpiece This incipit page has an illuminated headpiece; it begins the Iqbālnāmah, the second part of the fifth poem of the Khamsah, the Iskandarnāmah.

fol. 268b Aristotle teaching his students Illustration

934-5 AH / 1528-9 CE

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Persian

paper

image/jpeg

1528

All Walters manuscript images and descriptions provided here are copyrighted © The Walters Art Museum.