Walters Ms. W.612, Five poems (quintet)Khamsah-i Niẓāmīخمسه نظامىNiẓāmī 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 Safavid copy of the Khamsah (quintet) of Niẓāmī Ganjavī (d. 605 AH / 1209 CE) dates to the eleventh century AH / seventeenth CE. The codex opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a). Each of the five poems begins with an illuminated headpiece (fols. 32b, 117b, 176b, 240b, 331b), and there are thirty-six illustrations. The lacquer binding is not original to the manuscript.BaltimoreThe Walters Art MuseumW.612The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.fols. 1b - 380aKhamsah-i Niẓāmīخمسه نظامىبسم الله الرحمن الرحيم هست كليد در كنج حكيم...Contains: Makhzan al-asrār (fols. 1b-31b); Khusraw va Shīrīn (fols. 32b-117a); Laylá va Majnūn (fols. 117b-176a); Haft paykar (fols. 176b-240a); and Iskandarnāmah, divided into Sharafnāmah (fols. 240b-331a) and Iqbālnāmah (fols. 331b-380a); title of each poem not indicated; some folios supplied laterFoliation: i+38027.016.519.510.5

Written obliquely on versos

Framing lines in blue, red, gold, and blackWritten in black nastaʿlīq script with chapter headings in redThirty-six illustrations; double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a); headpieces without inscriptions; framing lines in blue, red, gold, and blackDouble-page illuminated frontispieceMakhzan al-asrārFrontispieceThis is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece that begins the first poem of the Khamsah, Makhzan al-asrār.Two quarreling scholarsMakhzan al-asrārIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated headpieceKhusraw va ShīrīnIncipit; headpieceThis incipit page has an illuminated headpiece beginning the second poem of the Khamsah: Khusraw va Shīrīn.Khusraw before his father, Hurmuz, asking for forgivenessKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationKhusraw watching Shīrīn bathingKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationKhusraw kills a lion in the presence of ShīrīnKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationFarhād is summoned to dig a channel through a rocky mountainKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationFarhād carries Shīrīn and her dead horse on his shouldersKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationCourtiers at Khusraw’s palaceKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationA woman offers wine to KhusrawKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationShīrūyah kills his father, Khusraw, because of his love for ShīrīnKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationShīrīn commits suicide after the murder of KhusrawKhusraw va ShīrīnIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated headpieceLaylá va MajnūnIncipit; headpieceThis incipit page has an illuminated headpiece beginning the third poem of the Khamsah: Laylá va Majnūn.Laylá and Majnūn meet in the wildernessLaylá va MajnūnIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated headpieceHaft paykarIncipit; headpieceThis incipit page has an illuminated headpiece beginning the fourth poem of the Khamsah: Haft paykar.Nuʿmān, father of Bahrām Gūr, throws a builder from the roof of the palace KhavarnaqHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr kills a wild ass while Fitnah plays the harpHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr entertains Shīdah, the builder of the seven pavilionsHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the yellow pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the green pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the red pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the sandalwood pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr in the white pavilionHaft paykarIllustrationBahrām Gūr meets a shepherd who hung his dog on a treeHaft paykarIllustrationThe hanging of Bahrām Gūr’s unjust vizierHaft paykarIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated headpieceSharafnāmahIncipit; headpieceThis incipit page has an illuminated headpiece beginning Sharafnāmah, the first half of the fifth poem of the Khamsah: Iskandarnāmah.Alexander the Great enthronedSharafnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great fights the EthiopiansSharafnāmahIllustrationAn official reads a letter to Alexander the Great, sent to him by DariusSharafnāmahIllustrationNushābah entertained by Alexander the GreatSharafnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great, unable to destroy a fortress, consults a hermitSharafnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great at a cave where Kay Khusraw is buried that emits flamesSharafnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great hunts on his way to ChinaSharafnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great meets the king of ChinaSharafnāmahIllustrationAlexander the Great defeats the Russian armySharafnāmahIllustrationAn official weighs the precious stone Alexander the Great found in the darknessSharafnāmahIllustrationA man tells Alexander the Great a story of a country in which there is no deathSharafnāmahIllustrationIncipit page with illuminated headpieceIqbālnāmahIncipit; headpieceThis incipit page has an illuminated headpiece beginning Iqbālnāmah, the second half of the fifth poem of the Khamsah: Iskandarnāmah.Alexander the Great listens to a story about a prince whose wife was sickIqbālnāmahIllustrationA rich merchant is summoned before a Greek king and his prime ministerIqbālnāmahIllustrationHermes, in front of Alexander the Great, and the Greek scholars who disagreed with himIqbālnāmahIllustrationThe funeral procession of Alexander the GreatIqbālnāmahIllustration

Lacquer boards with floral design (no flap)

11th century AH / 17th 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 stylecharterLiturgicalDevotionalScripturalTheologicalLegalHistoricalScientificScientific -- MedicalLiterary -- ProseLiterary -- PoetryPhilosophicalAstrologicalSufiEnglishBookCodexIlluminationIllustrationIranIslamicManuscriptPersianSafavidWalters Art MuseumLiterature -- Poetry