Walters Ms. W.610, Five poems (quintet)Khamsah-i Niẓāmīخمسه نظامى<note type="title" xml:id="n266.045874">Title on fols. 1b-2a above the text reads: Kitāb-i Khamsah-i Shaykh-i Niẓāmī</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 CEPrincipal 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 illuminated and illustrated copy of the Khamsah (quintet) of Niẓāmī Ganjavī (d. 605 AH / 1209 CE) was executed in Safavid Iran and dates to the middle of the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE. There are six colophons in Arabic that supply neither the date nor the scribe's name (fols. 31b, 119a, 175a, 238a, 325a, and 371a). The text is written in black nastaʿlīq script with section headings in blue. Twenty paintings attributable to the Shiraz school illustrate the text. The dark brown leather binding with central ovals and pendants, all brushed with gold, is original to the manuscript.BaltimoreThe Walters Art MuseumW.610The primary language in this manuscript is Persian. The secondary language of this manuscript is Arabic.fols. 1b - 371aKhamsah-i Niẓāmīخمسه نظامى<note type="title" xml:id="n266.045925">Title on fols. 1b-2a above the text reads: Kitāb-i Khamsah-i Shaykh-i Niẓāmī</note>بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم هست كليد در كنج حكيم...Contains the following poems: Makhzan al-asrār (fols. 1b-31a), Khusraw va Shīrīn (fols. 31b-119a), Laylá va Majnūn (fols. 119b-175a), Haft paykar (fols. 175b-238a), and Iskandarnāmah (fols. 238b-371a; divided into Sharafnāmah--fol. 238b and Iqbālnāmah--fol. 325b)Fol. 371a: tammat al-kitāb bi-ʿawn al-Malik al-Wahhāb /1/ wa-al-ḥamd li-Llāh rabb al-ʿālamīn wa-ṣallá /2/ Allāh ʿalá Muḥammad wa-ālih wa- /3/ awlādih /4/ ajmaʿīn /5/Six short colophons (31b, 119a, 175a, 238a, 325a, and 371a) in Arabic with neither date nor scribe's name

Laid paper

Foliation: ii+371+ii32.520.019.510.0Pencil foliation: 373 (includes two flyleaves at the end)

Written obliquely on versos

Written in black nastaʿlīq script with captions in blue on a decorated groundTwenty illustrations; double-page illuminated frontispiece; titlepieces; tailpieces; frameDouble-page illuminated frontispieceFrontispiece; titlepieceThis is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece with the beginning of the text of the first poem of the Khamsah: Makhzan al-asrār. The inscription above the text in light pink (on both sides) reads: Kitāb-i Khamsah-i Shaykh-i Niẓāmī.Double-page illuminated frontispieceFrontispiece; titlepieceThis is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece with the beginning of the text of the first poem of the Khamsah: Makhzan al-asrār. The inscription above the text in light pink (on both sides) reads: Kitāb-i Khamsah-i Shaykh-i Niẓāmī.An old woman implores Sultan Sanjar for helpMakhzan al-asrārIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated titlepieceKhusraw va ShīrīnIncipit; titlepieceThis incipit page has an illuminated titlepiece inscribed with the title of the second poem of the Khamsah: Kitāb-i Khusraw va Shīrīn.Khusraw watching Shīrīn bathingKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationKhusraw and Shīrīn play poloKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationKhusraw fights Bahrām ChūbīnahKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationKhusraw comes to visit Shīrīn at her palaceKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated titlepieceLaylá va MajnūnIncipit; titlepieceThis incipit page has an illuminated titlepiece inscribed with the title of the third poem of the Khamsah: Kitāb-i Laylá va Majnūn.Laylá and Majūn (Qays) at schoolLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationAn old woman leads Majnūn by a chain in front of Laylá’s tentLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationLaylá and Majnūn faint at the sight of each otherLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated titlepieceHaft paykarIncipit; titlepieceThis incipit page has an illuminated titlepiece inscribed with the title of the fourth poem of the Khamsah: Kitāb-i Haft paykar.Bahrām Gūr watches Fitnah carry a bullHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the yellow pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the red pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationThe hanging of Bahrām Gūr’s unjust vizierHaft paykarIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated titlepieceIskandarnāmahIncipit; titlepieceThis incipit page has an illuminated titlepiece inscribed with the title of the first part of the fifth poem of the Khamsah: Kitāb-i Sharafnāmah-i Iskandarī.The birth of Alexander the GreatIskandarnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great kills an Ethiopian warriorIskandarnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great mourns the death of DariusIskandarnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great meets Nushābah in her palaceIskandarnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great hunting on his way to ChinaIskandarnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great and the prophet Khiḍr (Khiz̤r) in front of the Fountain of LifeIskandarnāmahIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated titlepieceIskandarnāmahIncipit; titlepieceThis incipit page has an illuminated titlepiece inscribed with the title of the second part of the fifth poem of the Khamsah: Kitāb-i Iqbālnāmah-i Iskandarī.The seventy Greek scholars struck dead by the curse of HermesIskandarnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great and the seven philosophersIskandarnāmahIllustration

Dark brown leather (with flap); central ovals and pendants, all brushed with gold; dentelle-style doublures with filigree work, decorated central ovals, pendants, and cornerpieces in blue and gold

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