TIMURID IRAN, 15TH CENTURY

Details

FARID AD-DIN 'ATTAR (CIRCA 1142-1220): MANTIQ AL-TAYR
TIMURID IRAN, 15TH CENTURY
Persian manuscript on buff paper, 182ff. with 14ll. of black nasta'liq in 2 columns with gold margins, double illuminated frontispiece with gold arabesque and orange palmettes over blue ground, double illuminated opening page with similar decoration and white floriated kufic inscriptions in gold cartouches, with four later reworked illustrations, gouache heightened with gold, missing last page, later red binding, some staining, slightly rubbed
Folio 8 x 5in. (20 x 13cm.)

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Lot Essay

Mantiq at-Tayr is the greatest work of the mystic poet 'Attar, a parable describing the spiritual journey of birds with human traits and failings under the leadership of a Hoopoe, to find the legendary Simurgh. The birds are Sufi pilgrims, the Simurgh is God, the 'Truth'. Each time the birds seek to excuse themselves from their quest, the Hoopoe confronts them with further allegorical stories to encourage their perseverance. Eventually the thirty birds that stay find that the Simurgh is within themselves, a play on words si murgh, 'thirty birds'.
One of the earliest of the Persian mystic poets, 'Attar profoundly influenced the work of Rumi.

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