Manuscript/Mixed Material Sample of a hopeful letter
About this Item
Title
- Sample of a hopeful letter
Names
- Abdallah
Created / Published
- 18th century
Headings
- - Calligraphy, Arabic
- - Calligraphy, Persian
- - Manuscripts, Persian--Washington (D.C.)
- - Iran
- - Arabic script calligraphy
- - Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
- - Islamic calligraphy
- - Islamic manuscripts
- - Shikastah
- - Nasta'liq
Notes
- - Sample of a hopeful letter to a friend, written in a fluid Shikastah-Nasta'liq script in the 18th Cent. by the calligrapher, 'Abdallah.
- - Dimensions of Written Surface: 20.3 (w) x 21.7 (h) cm
- - Look at the bird of the heart, his wing and feathers burned / He has the hope (to return to) the nest, still still still...
- - Murgh-i dil bin ka sukht bal u parash / Darad umid-i ashiyana hanuz hanuz hanuz...
- - The calligrapher's signature appears vertically at the top of the text panel and reads: "mashaqahu al-'abd al-aqall... 'Abdallah al-musammah bi-khatim al-anbiya'" (written by the modest servant 'Abdallah known as the "Seal of the Prophets"). The calligrapher, whose name is shared with that of the Prophet Muhammad, has also made a note that he wrote his composition in the month of Muharram. Although he does not specify the year, the script is typical of 18th-century Persian calligraphic works.
- - The letter begins with two verses of poetry about hope after disappointment. They read:
- - The sample letter then proceeds with expressions that one must use when missing a friend and wishing to see him again.
- - This calligraphic fragment comprises a sample of how to write a letter to a friend. Written in a fluid shikastah-nasta'liq in black ink, the text is outlined in cloud bands and placed on a background painted in gold. Several borders in orange, blue and gold frame the text panel, which is pasted to a larger sheet of pink paper backed with cardboard for support.
- - Script: shikastah-nasta'liq
- - 1-85-154.70
Medium
- 1 volume ; 19.3 (w) x 29.7 (h) cm
Repository
- Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2019714612
Online Format
- image