Lot Essay
This manuscript is a collection of Diwans, copied for the library of the Timurid Prince Abu'l-Fath Ibrahim Sultan son of Shahrukh (d. AH 838/1434-5 AD), a patron of art and literature who commissioned the Zafarnama and was himself a skilled composer and calligrapher. The shamsa bears the dedication to Ibrahim Sultan's library as:
bi-rasm-e khazana al-'aliya al-sultan al-a'zam al-a'dal al-ashja' al-wathiq bi'l-malik al-dayyan mughith al-haqq wa al-dunya wa al-din abu'l-fath ibrahim sultan khallada mulkahu ('For the exalted treasury of the Sultan, the greatest, the most just, the most brave, confident in the Requiter King, the aid to the truth, the world and religion (Mughith al-Din) Abu'l-Fath Ibrahim Sultan, may (God) make his domain eternal').
In the border, are found the titles of the books included in the manuscript. They include the Diwan of Awhad al-Din Anvari (d. circa as 585/1189-90) as the main text, with divans of Zahir-e Faryabi (d. 598/1201-02); Azraqi (d. before AH 465/1072-3 AD); Abu'l-Faraj al-Runi (d. beginning of the 6th/12th century) Najib al-Din Jurfaqani (12th century); Athir al-Din Umani (7th/13th century) in the margins.
The end of the Diwan of Azraqi carries an effusive dedication to Ibrahim Sultan, by the scribe Nasir al-Katib. Nasir al-Katib is recorded as a scribe of the early 15th century and one of the early scribes of nasta'liq. Two of his recorded works are in the Gulistan Palace Library, one of which is dated AH 833/1429-30 AD (Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va Asar-e Khosh-Nevisan, Vol. III, Tehran, 1348 sh., p. 936). Another manuscript copied during the reign of Ibrahim Sultan (in Muharram AH 821/February- March 1418 AD) was sold at Christie's (29 April 2003, lot 106).
bi-rasm-e khazana al-'aliya al-sultan al-a'zam al-a'dal al-ashja' al-wathiq bi'l-malik al-dayyan mughith al-haqq wa al-dunya wa al-din abu'l-fath ibrahim sultan khallada mulkahu ('For the exalted treasury of the Sultan, the greatest, the most just, the most brave, confident in the Requiter King, the aid to the truth, the world and religion (Mughith al-Din) Abu'l-Fath Ibrahim Sultan, may (God) make his domain eternal').
In the border, are found the titles of the books included in the manuscript. They include the Diwan of Awhad al-Din Anvari (d. circa as 585/1189-90) as the main text, with divans of Zahir-e Faryabi (d. 598/1201-02); Azraqi (d. before AH 465/1072-3 AD); Abu'l-Faraj al-Runi (d. beginning of the 6th/12th century) Najib al-Din Jurfaqani (12th century); Athir al-Din Umani (7th/13th century) in the margins.
The end of the Diwan of Azraqi carries an effusive dedication to Ibrahim Sultan, by the scribe Nasir al-Katib. Nasir al-Katib is recorded as a scribe of the early 15th century and one of the early scribes of nasta'liq. Two of his recorded works are in the Gulistan Palace Library, one of which is dated AH 833/1429-30 AD (Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va Asar-e Khosh-Nevisan, Vol. III, Tehran, 1348 sh., p. 936). Another manuscript copied during the reign of Ibrahim Sultan (in Muharram AH 821/February- March 1418 AD) was sold at Christie's (29 April 2003, lot 106).