Lot Essay
The date has been reckoned from a chronogramatic couplet in the colophon which has been tampered with. It should read either "lafz ya Allah 980" or "lafz ba Allah 971". It apears that originally the words in this couplet were not marked with dots.
There are four illustrations within the text as follows: f.15r. - a cruel king visits the sufi Khuda Dost
f.81r. - a poor but learned jurist visits a rich but less educated one
f.133v. - people who thank God and those who do not
f.135r. - dialogue between a European and a jurist (illustrated)
The missing folios probably had further illustrations
The scribe Maulana Ruzbihan al-Shirazi was a renowned master calligrapher of Shiraz. Qadi Ahmad, a contemporary scribe says of him "The most renowned calligraphers of Fars, Khorasan, Kirman and Iraq are eaters of crumbs from his table." (Minorsky (Trans.); Calligraphers and Painters, Freer Gallery of Art Occasional Papers, Washington 1959
There are four illustrations within the text as follows: f.15r. - a cruel king visits the sufi Khuda Dost
f.81r. - a poor but learned jurist visits a rich but less educated one
f.133v. - people who thank God and those who do not
f.135r. - dialogue between a European and a jurist (illustrated)
The missing folios probably had further illustrations
The scribe Maulana Ruzbihan al-Shirazi was a renowned master calligrapher of Shiraz. Qadi Ahmad, a contemporary scribe says of him "The most renowned calligraphers of Fars, Khorasan, Kirman and Iraq are eaters of crumbs from his table." (Minorsky (Trans.); Calligraphers and Painters, Freer Gallery of Art Occasional Papers, Washington 1959