Walters Ms. W.606, Five poems (quintet) Khamsah-i Niẓāmī خمسه نظامى <note type="title" xml:id="n263.003744">Khamsah-i Niẓāmī inscribed on the fore-edge</note> Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 41-1202 or 3 Ilyās ibn Yūsuf Niẓāmī Ganjavī الياس بن يوسف نظامى گنجوى Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 605 AH / 1209 CE scribe Muḥammad Mūsá al-Mudhahhib محمد موسى المذهب Mūsá al-Mudhahhib The scribe gives his name in the final colophon as Muḥammad al-mashhūr bi-Mūsá al-Mudhahhib, that is Muḥammad, known as Mūsá al-Mudhahhib ('the Limner'). Principal cataloger Gacek, Adam Cataloger Landau, Amy Cataloger Smith, Sita Copy editor Bockrath, Diane Contributor Barrera, Christina Contributor Emery, Doug Contributor Herbert, Lynley Contributor Noel, William Contributor Simpson, Shreve Contributor Tabritha, Ariel Contributor Toth, Michael B. Contributor Valle, Chiara Conservator Jewell, Stephanie Conservator Quandt, Abigail 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.

 This is an illuminated and illustrated Khamsah (quintet) by Niẓāmī Ganjavī (d. 605 AH / 1209 CE), copied by Muḥammad Mūsá al-Mudhahhib ('the Limner') in Safavid Iran in 924 AH / 1518 CE. The manuscript opens with a double-page illustration (fols. 1b-2a), which is followed by a double-page illumination (fols. 2b-3a). In total, there are six Arabic colophons, one at the end of each of the first four poems and two for the two parts of the final poem (Kitāb-i Sharafnāmah-i Iskandarī and Kitāb-i Iqbālnāmah). The dates of these colophons indicate that the various poems were not executed consecutively. The writing of the text extended over a period of approximately three months, 6 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 923 AH / 1517 CE to 7 Rabīʿ I 924 AH / 1518 CE. The text is written in black nastaʿlīq script with blue subject/section headings. In addition to illuminated titlepieces and headpieces, there are twenty-six illustrations. The binding is not original to the manuscript. Baltimore The Walters Art Museum W.606 The primary language in this manuscript is Persian. The secondary language of this manuscript is Arabic. 1b - 368a Khamsah-i Niẓāmī خمسه نظامى <note type="title" xml:id="n263.003814">Khamsah-i Niẓāmī inscribed on the fore-edge</note> بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم هست كليد در كنج حكيم... Contains the following books: Makhzan al-asrār (fols. 2b-32a), Khusraw va Shīrīn (fols. 32b-113a), Laylá va Majnūn (fols. 113b-169a), Haft paykar (fols. 169b-234a), Sharafnāmah-i Iskandarī (fols. 234b-320a), and Iqbālnāmah (fols. 320b-368a) scribe qad faragha min taḥrīr hadhā al-kitāb al-mawsūm bi-Iqbāl nānah /1/ Iskandarī min muṣannafāt afḍal al-shuʿarā wa- /2/ afṣaḥ al-bulaghā wa-akmal al-ḥukamā Shaykh Niẓāmī /3/ ʿalá yad al-ʿabd al-faqīr Muḥammad al-mashhūr /4/ bi-Mūsá al-Mudhahhib fī 5 /5/ Muḥarram sanat 924 /6/ m (= tamma) /7/ (fol. 368a) Six colophons in Arabic with the name of the scribe, dated to show that the various poems of the Khamsah were not executed consecutively; dates as follows: 29 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 923 AH (fol. 32a); 7 Rabīʿ I 924 AH (fol. 113a); Ṣafar 924 AH (fol. 169a); 6 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 923 AH (fol. 234a); 19 Muḥarram 924 AH (fol. 320a); 5 Muḥarram 924 AH (fol. 368a)

Laid paper

 Foliation: i+368+i29.5 17.0 18.5 9.5

Written obliquely on versos

Text written horizontally and obliquely; framing lines in gold and blue Written in black nastaʿlīq script with blue subject/section headings Twenty-six illustrations; double-page illustration (fols. 1b-2a); double-page illumination (fols. 2b-3a); titlepieces (fols. 32b, 113b, 169b, 234b, and 320b); headpieces (fols. 32b, 113b, 169b, 234b, and 320b); framing lines in gold and blue Double-page illustrated frontispiece Illustration; frontispiece This is the right side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting a court scene with music and dancing. Double-page illustrated frontispiece Illustration; frontispiece This is the left side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting a royal pavilion and horses laden with gifts. Double-page illuminated frontispiece Makhzan al-asrār Frontispiece This is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece for the first poem of the Khamsah, Makhzan al-asrār. The upper and lower panels have an inscription in Persian containing the name of the author. Double-page illuminated frontispiece Makhzan al-asrār Frontispiece This is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece for the first poem of the Khamsah, Makhzan al-asrār. The upper and lower panels have an inscription in Persian containing the name of the author. Anūshīrvān, his vizier Dastūr, and the owls Makhzan al-asrār Illustration Incipit with illuminated titlepiece Khusraw va Shīrīn Incipit; titlepiece This illuminated incipit page introduces the second poem of the Khamsah, Khusraw va Shīrīn. Khusraw watching Shīrīn bathing Khusraw va Shīrīn Illustration Khusraw kills a lion outside Shīrīn's tent Khusraw va Shīrīn Illustration Khusraw fights against Bahrām Chūbīnah Khusraw va Shīrīn Illustration Farhād carries Shīrīn on her horse Khusraw va Shīrīn Illustration Khusraw and Shīrīn in their bridal chamber Khusraw va Shīrīn Illustration Death of Shīrīn Khusraw va Shīrīn Illustration Shīrīn, having stabbed herself with a dagger, lies on her husband’s casket to die. Incipit with illuminated titlepiece Laylá va Majnūn Incipit; titlepiece This illuminated incipit page introduces the third poem of the Khamsah, Laylá va Majnūn. Majnūn and his father visit the mosque in Mecca Laylá va Majnūn Illustration Nawfal and his men fight Laylá’s tribe Laylá va Majnūn Illustration Laylá and Majūn faint at the sight of each other Laylá va Majnūn Illustration Incipit with illuminated titlepiece Haft paykar Incipit; titlepiece This illuminated incipit page introduces the fourth poem of the Khamsah, Haft paykar. Bahrām Gūr kills a dragon Haft paykar Illustration Bahrām Gūr kills a wild ass while Fitnah plays the harp Haft paykar Illustration Bahrām Gūr in the yellow pavilion Haft paykar Illustration Bahrām Gūr in the blue pavilion Haft paykar Illustration Bahrām Gūr in the sandalwood pavilion Haft paykar Illustration Bahrām Gūr questions a shepherd who hung his dog on a tree Haft paykar Illustration Incipit with illuminated titlepiece Sharafnāmah-i Iskandarī Incipit; titlepiece This illuminated incipit introduces the Sharafnāmah-i Iskandarī, the first part of the fifth poem of the Khamsah, Iskandarnāmah. Alexander the Great fights the Ethiopians Sharafnāmah-i Iskandarī Illustration Alexander the Great laments the death of Darius Sharafnāmah-i Iskandarī Illustration Alexander the Great admires his portrait made by Nushābah Sharafnāmah-i Iskandarī Illustration Alexander the Great fights the army of the king of China Sharafnāmah-i Iskandarī Illustration Alexander the Great lassos a Russian warrior Sharafnāmah-i Iskandarī Illustration Incipit with illuminated titlepiece Iqbālnāmah Incipit; titlepiece This illuminated incipit page introduces the Iqbālnāmah, the second part of the fifth poem of the Khamsah, Iskandarnāmah. Hermes debates with seventy Greek scholars Iqbālnāmah Illustration The paradise of Shaddād Palace discovered by Alexander the Great Iqbālnāmah Illustration Alexander the Great and his men watch naked girls swim in the Sea of China Iqbālnāmah Illustration

Gold-brushed, panel-stamped brown leather (with flap); partially legible verse inscriptions in the upper and lower frames; doublures of red leather with central medallions, pendants, and cornerpieces, also brushed with gold

 6 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 923 AH / 1517 CE -- 7 Rabīʿ I 924 AH / 1518 CE Iran Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest Relevant Works Storey, C. A. Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Vol. 2. (London: Luzac, 1927- ), 438-495. Art Medicine Museum Poetry Script Muhammad, the Prophet Kashmiri Horses Walters Art Museum Document Astrology Devotion History Legal Literature -- Poetry Literature -- Prose Liturgy Philosophy Science Science -- Medicine Scripture Sufism Theology Mineralogy Logic Geography Geomancy Cosmology Cartography Fortune-telling Koran Qur`an Firman Palimpsest Prayer Bible Gospels Psalter Missal Lectionary Book of Hours Antiphonary Homilary Processional Horologion Breviary Hymnal Chronicle Maghreb Sub-Saharan (West) Africa Turkey Afghanistan Central Asia Egypt England India Iran Iraq Pakistan Germany France Austria Netherlands Ethiopia Armenia Flanders Greece Mamluk Mughal Ottoman Ottonian Armenian Byzantine Abbasid Qajar Rajput Christian Arabic Austrian Dutch Egyptian Fatimid German Indian Islamic Persian Safavid Timurid Turkish Umayyad English French Flemish Ethiopian Carolingian Calligraphy Colophon Headpiece Illumination Illustration Medallion Miniature Ornament Painting Early Abbasid script Ragini Romanesque Gothic Watermark Grotesques Historiated initial Inhabited initial White-vine lettering Textura Batarda Humanistic Uncial Accordion book Album Book Codex Manuscript Heraldry Saint's Life Drawing Grisaille New Abbasid style Musical notation Russia Romania Charter Russian Genealogy Mass book Prayer book Gospel Lectionary Psalter-Hours Treatise Grammar Gloss Pontifical Private devotional text Gradual Protective scroll Scroll 10th century 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century 8th century 9th century Block book Caroline minuscule Central Arab lands (Near East) Chart English secretary hand Kufic Gothic book hand Original binding Treasure binding Gospel Book Spanish Spain Italian Italy Coptic Scrapbook American United States Maryland Historical Society Friendship book Friendship Biography Judaism Talmud Collection of Sermons Notable Notable binding Textbook Scholarly compendium Ancient Greece Ancient Rome Literature Japanese Japan Liturgical Devotional Scriptural Theological Legal Historical Scientific Scientific -- Medical Literary -- Prose Literary -- Poetry Philosophical Astrological Sufi English Codex Manuscript Persian Walters Art Museum Illumination Illustration Iran Islamic Book Literature -- Poetry Colophon