Walters Ms. W.605, Five poems (quintet)Kitāb-i Khamsah-i Shaykh-i Niẓāmīكتاب خمسه شيخ نظامى<note type="title" xml:id="n227.048170">Title and author's name given in a double-page illuminated frontispiece with the inscription in gold thuluth script in four cartouches</note>Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 41-1202 or 3Ilyās ibn Yūsuf Niẓāmī Ganjavīالياس بن يوسف نظامى گنجوىAuthor dates preferred by cataloger: d. 605 AH / 1209 CEscribeAbū Bakr Shāh ibn Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Shahrastānīابو بكر شاه بن حسن بن علي الشهرستانيAbū Bakr Shāh ibn Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Shahrastānī is mentioned only in the three colophons (see fols. 42b, 119a, and 210b).artistJamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Ṣiddīqī al-Iṣfahānīﺠمال الدين محمد الصديقي الاصفهانيAccording to statements on fols. 210b, 314a, and 446a, Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Ṣiddīqī al-Iṣfahānī appears to be responsible for the chrysography, illumination, and binding, which has not survived in its original form.Principal catalogerGacek, AdamCatalogerLandau, AmyCatalogerSmith, SitaEditorBockrath, DianeContributorBarrera, ChristinaContributorEmery, DougContributorHerbert, LynleyContributorNoel, WilliamContributorSimpson, ShreveContributorTabritha, ArielContributorToth, Michael B.ContributorValle, ChiaraConservatorJewell, StephanieConservatorQuandt, AbigailThe 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.

This copy of the Khamsah (quintet) of Niẓāmī Ganjavī (d. 605 AH / 1209 CE) was written by Abū Bakr Shāh ibn Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Shahrastānī and illuminated by Jamāl al-Dīn ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣiddīqī al-Iṣfahānī between 892 AH / 1486 CE and 900 AH / 1494-5 CE. The manuscript opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece with an inscription giving the title of the work and the name of the author (fols. 1b-2a). There are four illuminated titlepieces with the names of the individual poems and twenty-six repainted illustrations. According to evidence supplied by the colophons, the original binding was by the hand of Jamāl al-Dīn ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣiddīqī al-Iṣfahānī, as well. Unfortunately, it has not survived. The binding presently attached to the manuscript dates to the twelfth century AH / eighteenth CE.BaltimoreThe Walters Art MuseumW.605The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.fols. 1b - 446aKitāb-i Khamsah-i Shaykh-i Niẓāmīكتاب خمسه شيخ نظامى<note type="title" xml:id="n227.048229">Title and author's name given in a double-page illuminated frontispiece with the inscription in gold thuluth script in four cartouches</note>بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم هست كليد در كنج حكيم...Contains five poems: Makhzan al-asrār (fols. 1b-42b), Laylá va Majnūn (fols. 43b-119b), Haft paykar (fols. 120b-166b and 177a-210b), Khusraw va Shīrīn (fols. 167a-173a and 211b-314a), and Iskandarnāmah (fols. 315b-446a)scribeartistFol. 119a: qad faragha min taḥrīr hadhā kitāb [sic] al-laṭīf wa-hiya [sic] jild [sic] al-thānī min /1/ jumlat al-Khamsah al-musammá bi-hi [sic] Laylá wa-Majnūn min kalām shaykh al-muḥaqqiqīn /2/ qudwat al-ʿārifin zubdat al-sālikīn Shaykh Niẓāmī al-Kanjah /3/ ʿalayhi al-raḥmah wa-al-riḍwān wa-al-maghrifah wal-ghufrān al-ʿabd /4/ al-faqīr al-ḥaqīr al-ḍaʿīf al-muftaqir ilá raḥmat Allāh al-malik /5/ al-jānī Abū Bakr Shāh ibn Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Sharastānī /6/ aḥsana Allāh aḥwālahu wa-ghafara lahu wa-li-wālidayhi wa-li-sāyir al-muʾminīn /7/ wa-al-muʾmināt wa-al-Muslimīn wa-al-Muslimāt fī ta<ʾ>rīkh sanat ithnayn /8/ wa-taisʿīn wa-thamānimiʾah al-hijrīyah al-nabawīyah al-muṣṭafawīyah /9/ wa-ṣallá Allāh ʿalá Muḥammad wa-ʿalá jamīʿ al-anbiyāʾ wa-al-mursalīn /10/ wa-ʿalá <ā>lih wa-aṣḥābih wa-azwājih ajmaʿīn /11/ al-ṭayyibīn wa-al-ṭāhirīn wa- /12/ al-ḥamd li-Llāh rabb al-ʿālamīn /13/ tamma /14/Five colophons (42b, 119a, 210b, 314a, and 446a) in Arabic giving the names of the scribe, illuminator, and bookbinder; colophon on fol. 314a, written in gold tawqīʿ script below the frame, reads: katabahu wa-tazayyanahu wa-tajalladahu ʿalá yad al-faqīr al-ḥaqīr Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ak-Ṣiddīqī al-Iṣfahānī; the same name, responsible for the illuminations, with the date 900 AH / 1494-5, given on fol. 446a

Laid paper

Foliation: i+446+i23.016.017.510.5

A good number of folios (especially between fols. 90 and 180) either missing or misbound

First column has the text written obliquely; frame-ruledWritten in black nastaʿlīq script with captions in blue and goldTwenty-six illustrations, most repainted later; double-page illuminated frontispiece with the inscription in gold thuluth script in four cartouches: Kitāb-i Khamsah-i (fol. 1a top), Shaykh-i Niẓāmī (fol. 1b top), ʿalayhi al-raḥmah (fol. 1a bottom), and wa-al-riḍwān (fol. 2b bottom); four titlepieces with the titles of individual poems (fols. 43b, 120b, 211b, and 315b)Double-page illuminated frontispieceFrontispieceThis is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece, which together with the left side contains the title and the author's name, written in gold thuluth script.Double-page illuminated frontispieceFrontispieceThis is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece, which together with the right side contains the title and the author's name, written in gold thuluth script.King Nūshirvān hunting with Dastūr, his vizierMakhzan al-asrārIllustrationKing Farīdūn hunting deerMakhzan al-asrārIllustrationAn old man speaking with a king's confidantMakhzan al-asrārIllustrationLaylá and Majnūn at schoolLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationMajnūn brought to the Kaʿba in MeccaLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationMajnūn visited by his fatherLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationLaylá in a garden in the company of young womenLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationNawfal, a friend of Majnūn, fighting with Laylá’s tribeLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationMajnūn playing with wild animalsLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationMajnūn playing with wild animalsLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationMajūn and his father embracing in the wildernessLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationMajnūn visiting his father’s tombLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationKhusraw and FarhādKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationThis folio is misbound.Bahram Gūr in the green pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationThis folio is misbound.Salīm, a youth from Baghdad, visiting MajnūnLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationMajnūn meeting his mother in the presence of SalīmLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationLaylá and Majnūn reunited in the wildernessLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationMajnūn fainting at Laylá’s tombLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated titlepieceHaft paykarIncipit; titlepieceThis illuminated incipit page has a titlepiece inscribed with the title of the poem, Kitāb-i Haft paykar, in gold ink.Bahrām Gūr killing a lionHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr killing a dragonHaft paykarIllustrationKhusraw being told about Farhād’s love for ShīrīnKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the blue pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated titlepieceKhusraw va ShīrīnIncipit; titlepieceThis incipit page has an illuminated titlepiece inscribed with the title of the poem, Kitāb-i Khusraw va Shīrīn, in gold ink.Khusraw and Shīrīn enthroned in the presence of courtiersKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationFarhād, the lover of Shīrīn, in the presence of the king’s messengerKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationKhusraw asking pardon from ShīrīnKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationShīrīn meeting KhusrawKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated titlepieceIskandarnāmahIncipit; titlepieceThis illuminated incipit page has a titlepiece inscribed with the title of the poem, Kitāb-i Iskandarnāmah, in gold ink.

Probably dates to the twelfth century AH / eighteenth CE; brown leather (with flap); stamped, gold-brushed central ovals, pendants, and cornerpieces; marbled endpapers; first and last folios mounted

892 AH / 1486 CE; another date of 900 AH / 1494-5 CE given on fol. 446a for the completion of the illuminations and bindingIranWalters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequestRelevant WorksStorey, C. A. Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Vol. 2. (London: Luzac, 1927- ), 438-495.Gacek, Adam. Persian Manuscripts in the Libraries of McGill University: Brief Union Catalogue. (Montreal: McGill University Libraries, 2005), no. 111.ArtMedicineMuseumPoetryScriptMuhammad, the ProphetRomaniaKashmiriHorsesWalters Art MuseumBlockbookDocumentGeneologyAstrologyDevotionHistoryLegalLiterature -- PoetryLiterature -- ProseLiturgyPhilosophyScienceScience -- MedicineScriptureSufismTheologyMineralogyLogicGeographyGeomancyCosmologyCartographyFortune-tellingKoranQur`anFirmanPalimpsestPrayerBibleGospelsPsalterMissalLectionaryBook of HoursAntiphonaryPrayerbookHomilaryProcessionalHorologionBreviaryHymnalChroniclePsalter/HoursMaghrebSub-Saharan (West) AfricaTurkeyAfghanistanCentral Arab Lands (Near East)Central AsiaEgyptEnglandIndiaIranIraqPakistanGermanyFranceAustriaNetherlandsEthiopiaArmeniaFlandersGreeceMamlukMughalOttomanOttonianArmenianByzantineAbbasidQajarRajputChristianArabicAustrianDutchEgyptianFatimidGermanIndianIslamicPersianSafavidTimuridTurkishUmayyadEnglishFrenchFlemishEthiopianCarolingianCalligraphyChartsColophonHeadpieceIlluminationIllustrationMedallionMiniatureOrnamentPainting'Kufic'Early Abbasid scriptRaginiRomanesqueGothicWatermarkTreasure BindingGrotesquesHistoriated initialInhabited initialCarolingian MinusculeGothic Book handWhite-vine letteringEnglish secretaryTexturaBatardaHumanisticUncialAccordion bookAlbumBookCodexManuscriptHeraldrySaint's LifeDrawingGrisailleOriginal BindingBindingNew Abbasid stylecharterLiturgicalDevotionalScripturalTheologicalLegalHistoricalScientificScientific -- MedicalLiterary -- ProseLiterary -- PoetryPhilosophicalAstrologicalSufiEnglishBookCalligraphyCodexColophonIlluminationIllustrationIranIslamicManuscriptOrnamentPersianSafavidWalters Art MuseumLiterature -- Poetry