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Manuscript/Mixed Material Id (feast day) Blessing

About this Item

Title

  • Id (feast day) Blessing

Created / Published

  • 18th century (?)

Headings

  • -  Calligraphy, Arabic
  • -  Calligraphy, Persian
  • -  Manuscripts, Arabic--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  India
  • -  Arabic script calligraphy
  • -  Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Islamic calligraphy
  • -  Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Nasta'liq

Notes

  • -  New Year's (Nowruz) or 'Id (feast day) blessing in Persian, written in Nasta'liq script with Arabic invocation to the prophet of Islam, from India.
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 22.1 (w) x 8 (h) cm
  • -  haqq-i ta'ala in 'id-ra bi-dhat 'ali (ya) / Navab Sahib dama iqbaluhu mubarak va humayun gardanad
  • -  It appears that this calligraphic panel was executed to celebrate the New Year and to wish a princely patron unending prosperity. This practice of offering good wishes in written form during New Year's celebrations is attested to in a number of other calligraphic specimens in the Library of Congress (see 1-04-713.19.3, 1-04-713.19.48, and 1-84-154.51).
  • -  On this 'id, may God the Exalted bring to the high essence of our Majesty, / Navab Sahib, everlasting, blessed, and good fortune.
  • -  This calligraphic panel executed in nasta'liq script on a beige paper sprinkled with gold flecks is provided with a (water damaged) frame and is pasted to a brown piece of paper strengthened with cardboard. Between the two lines of calligraphy, which offer a prayer to a ruler on the occasion of 'id, appears another small fragment cut out and pasted in the center left. It reads: "In the name of Muhammad and Muhammad's family [prayers upon them] (bi-haqq-i Muhammad wa Al-i Muhammad, slm.). The two main lines of calligraphy read:
  • -  This poem wishes a ruler (described as a "high essence," or dhat 'ali) everlasting happiness and good fortune on the occasion of 'id. This festival may be New Year (noruz), that is, the Spring equinox (March 21st) marking the beginning of the solar calendar as celebrated in Iran and parts of India. An Indian provenance is supported by the fact that the title "Navab Sahib" was used, for example, by rulers of the Junagadh province in northern India from the 18th to the 20th centuries.
  • -  Script: nasta'liq
  • -  1-04-713.19.49

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 35 (w) x 22.3 (h) cm

Repository

  • Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714554

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of Congress Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, African and Middle East Division, Near East Section Persian Manuscript Collection

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Id feast day Blessing. 18th Century ?. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2019714554/.

APA citation style:

Id feast day Blessing. 18th Century ?. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2019714554/.

MLA citation style:

Id feast day Blessing. 18th Century ?. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/2019714554/>.