Walters Ms. W.607, Five poems (quintet)Khamsah-i Niẓāmīخمسه نظاميNiẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 41-1202 or 3Ilyās ibn Yūsuf Niẓāmī Ganjavīالياس بن يوسف نظامي گنجويAuthor dates preferred by cataloger: d. 605 AH / 1209 CEscribeYādkār al-Kātibيادكار الكاتبPrincipal catalogerGacek, AdamCatalogerLandau, AmyCatalogerSmith, SitaEditorBockrath, DianeContributorBarrera, ChristinaContributorEmery, DougContributorHerbert, LynleyContributorNoel, WilliamContributorSimpson, ShreveContributorTabritha, ArielContributorToth, Michael B.ContributorValle, ChiaraConservatorJewell, StephanieConservatorQuandt, AbigailThe Walters Art Museum

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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.BaltimoreThe Walters Art MuseumW.607The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.fols. 1b - 297aKhamsah-i Niẓāmīخمسه نظاميبسم الله الرحمن الرحيم هست كليد در كنج حكيم...Contains the following four poems: Makhzan al-asrār (fols. 1b-32a); Khusraw va Shīrīn (fols. 33b-118a); Haft paykar (fols. 119b-179a); and Iskandarnāmah (fols. 180b-297a); Layla va Majnūn missingscribeal-ʿabd al-ḥājjī Yādkār al-Kātib /1/ ghafara dhunūbahu wa-satara /2/ ʿuyūbahu /3/ 903 [sic] /4/Records scribe's name and date; date appears to be forged

Cream-colored laid paper

Foliation: i+297+i30.018.019.510.5

Written obliquely on versos

Framing lines in blue, red, green, gold, and blackWritten in nastaʿlīq script in black ink with section headings in redTwenty-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 blackLate Zand lacquer bindingBindingThis late Zand lacquer binding depicts Bahrām Gūr hunting and Fitnah carrying a cow on her shoulders. It is dated 12[0]5 AH / 1790-1 CE. The lacquer boards were made in Iran during the Zand period.Double-page illuminated frontispieceMakhzan-i asrārFrontispieceThis is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece inscribed with the title of the first poem of the Khamsah, Makhzan-i asrār.Double-page illuminated frontispieceMakhzan-i asrārFrontispieceThis is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece inscribed with the title of the first poem of the Khamsah, Makhzan-i asrār.The Prophet Muhammad's ascensionMakhzān al-asrārIllustrationThe Prophet Muhammad is depicted on Buraq, led by the angel Gabriel ascending to the heavens.Nūshirvān and his prime minster DastūrMakhzān al-asrārIllustrationRiding through a ruined village, the Sasanian Nūshirvān and his prime minster Dastūr see two owls talking.An old woman implores Sultan Sanjar for helpMakhzān al-asrārIllustrationAn old woman approaches the throne of Sultan Sanjar to recount her oppression.An old man brought before a tyrantMakhzān al-asrārIllustrationAn old woman speaking with a confidant of King JamshīdMakhzān al-asrārIllustrationAt a court gathering, an old woman speaks with a confidant of King Jamshīd.Incipit with illuminated headpieceKhusraw va ShīrīnIncipit; headpieceThis incipit page has an illuminated headpiece; it begins the second poem of the Khamsah, Khusraw va Shīrīn.Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad Atābak enthronedKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationShāhpūr visiting ShīrīnKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationShāhpūr is shown before the Armenian princess Shīrīn at a court gathering.Ascension of Khusraw to the throneKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationKhusraw and Shīrīn enthronedKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationFarhād carves an image of Shīrīn in rockKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationKhusraw announces his marriage to ShakarKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationKhusraw and Shīrīn in the palaceKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationReconciliation of Khusraw and ShīrīnKhusraw va ShīrīnIllsutrationShīrūyah stabs Khusraw, his fatherKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationIncipit with illuminated headpieceHaft paykarIncipit; headpieceThis incipit page has an illuminated headpiece; it begins the fourth poem of the Khamsah, Haft paykar.Bahrām Gūr seizes the crown after having killed two lionsHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr kills a wild assHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the black pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the yellow pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the blue pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the sandalwood pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the white pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationIncipit with illuminated headpieceIskandarnāmahIncipit; headpieceThis incipit page has an illuminated headpiece; it begins the Sharafnāmah, the first part of the fifth poem of the Khamsah, the Iskandarnāmah.Alexander the Great fighting the EthiopiansIskandarnāmahIllustrationVictory of Alexander the Great over the EthiopiansIskandarnāmahIllustrationDeath of King DariusIskandarnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great admires his portrait ordered by Queen NūshābahIskandarnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great at the fountain of life with the prophets Khiḍr and IlyāsIskandarnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great (Iskandar) searches for the fountain of life and passes by a cave, before which sit the prophets Khiḍr and Ilyās.Incipit with illuminated headpieceIskandarnāmahIncipit; headpieceThis incipit page has an illuminated headpiece; it begins the Iqbālnāmah, the second part of the fifth poem of the Khamsah, the Iskandarnāmah.Aristotle teaching his studentsIskandarnāmahIllustrationLate Zand lacquer bindingBindingThis late Zand lacquer binding depicts Khusraw watching Shīrīn bathing. It was made in Iran during the Zand period. (The upper board is dated 12[0]5 AH / 1790-1 CE.)

Dates to the twelfth century AH / eighteenth CE; late Zand lacquer binding (without flap); upper board depicts Bahrām Gūr hunting and Fitnah carrying a cow on her shoulders, dated 12[0]5 AH / 1790-1 CE; lower board depicts Khusraw watching Shīrīn bathing; red leather doublures have gold-painted decoration

934-5 AH / 1528-9 CEIranWalters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequestRelevant WorksStorey, C. A. Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Vol. 2. (London: Luzac, 1927- ), 438-495.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 styleLiturgicalDevotionalScripturalTheologicalLegalHistoricalScientificScientific -- MedicalLiterary -- ProseLiterary -- PoetryPhilosophicalAstrologicalSufiEnglishBookCalligraphyCodexColophonHeadpieceIlluminationIllustrationIranIslamicManuscriptPaintingPersianSafavidWalters Art MuseumLiterature -- Poetry