COLOPHON SIGNED MUHAMMAD HUSAYN DAR AL-MARZI ON THE ORDER OF LUTFALLAH MUZAHHIB (THE ILLUMINATOR) SHIRAZI, SHIRAZ, IRAN, DATED BETWEEN THE LAST DAY DHU’L QA’DA AH 1033 / 14 SEPTEMBER 1624 AD AND 1 DHU’L QA’DA AH 1035 / 15 JULY 1626 AD

This splendid copy of the Khamsa of Nizami and Amir Khusraw Dihlavi is a wonderful example of the manuscript production of the first half of the 17^th century. It is incredibly richly illuminated and illustrated – with five spectacular double page illuminated title pages, further illuminated borders and twenty-two illustrations throughout the text. It also bears detailed colophons throughout, which name the scribe as Muhammad Husayn Dar al-Marzi, as well as five dates ranging from AH 1033 to 1035 / 1624 to 1626 AD, indicating how long it took the scribe to complete the work. A list of the colophons is as below:

1. Makhzan al-Asrar, 28 Dhu’l-Qa’da AH 1033 / 11 September 1624 AD
2. Khusraw and Shirin, Rabi II AH 1034/January-February 1625 AD
3. Layla wa Majnun, no date
4. Haft Paykar, Shawwal AH 1034/July-August 1625 AD
5. Iskandarnama, 1 Dhu’l-Qa’da AH 1035 / 25 July 1626 AD

The colophon for the Iskandernama also states that he copied it on the order of Lutfallah Muzahhib (the illuminator) al-Shirazi. That the patron of this manuscript was an illuminator, and one whose skill was such that he was given the title nadir al-'asr, 'the wonder of the age' (Francis Richard, Splendeurs Persanes. Manuscrits du XIIe au XVIIe siècle, Paris, 1997, p.204) is perhaps reason for the spectacular and very varied illuminated double page illuminated folios throughout the manuscript. Given the quality, it is very likely that the illumination here was done by Lutfallah Shirazi himself.

There are a small number of related illustrated poetic manuscripts that fit very precisely within the same group as our manuscript. All are illustrated and illuminated in a very similar manner. With the high number of illustrations and the quality of the illumination, this is amongst the most luxurious of the group. The others include:

1. The Diwan of Anvari in the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. Copied in Shiraz in 1626 by Muhammad Husayn Dar al-Marzi (Mss. Or., Suppl. Persan 514, published Francis Richard, op. cit., 1997, no.147, p.204).
2. The Kulliyat of ‘Urfi Shirazi in the John Rylands Library, Manchester. Copied by Muhammad Husayn Dar al-Marzi, dated 1628 (Persian Mss.208, published B.W. Robinson, Persian Paintings in the John Rylands Library: A Descriptive Catalogue, London, 1980, nos.671-672, pp.228-229).
3. The Kulliyat of Sa’di in the India Office Library, London. Copied by Mahmud al-Katib al-Shirazi, dated 1624 (Manuscript 843; published B.W. Robinson, Persian Paintings in the India Office Library, London, 1976, nos.514-531, pp.144-147)
4. Two Mathnavis, one of Jami and the other of Jalal al-Din Rumi, both in the Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, Geneva. Dated 1615 and 1622-23 (mentioned in Francis Richard, Splendeurs Persanes. Manuscrits du XIIe au XVIIe siècle, Paris, 1997, no.147, p.204)

Two of the manuscripts listed above were copied by the same scribe as our manuscript, Muhammad Husayn Dar al-Marzi – one the same year as ours, the other two years later (in the Bibliothèque nationale and the John Rylands Library, respectively - both illustrated right). Although little is known of the scribe, his nisba, Dar al-Marzi, would indicate that he came from Gilan (also known as Dar al-Marz), in North West Iran.

In his description of the Diwan of Anvari in the Bibliothèque nationale, Francis Richard describes another copy of the Khamsa of Nizami copied between AH 1033-34 / 1623-25 AD by the same scribe for Lutfullah Muzahhib. It sounds temptingly similar to our manuscript, although the dating is very slightly earlier. Francis Richard does not mention the location of that manuscript, but suggests that it was Lutfullah Shirazi who executed the exceptional and brilliantly varied illumination on both it and the Bibliothèque nationale manuscript. It seems a logical extension that he completed that on this manuscript too. Not only is the illumination here done with immense attention to detail and beauty, but it is also the work of someone who possessed the ability to be extremely imaginative in his work. None of the five illuminated bifolios that accompany the chapter headings are the same.

There is a strong stylistic resemblance between the paintings of our manuscript, the two others signed by Muhammad Husayn Dar al-Marzi, and it is a strong possibility that they are the work of the same unnamed artist. Like the other manuscripts of this group, ours opens with a double page frontispiece depicting festivities in a garden. As with the John Rylands Kulliyat, some of the revellers appear to be seated in a tree-house. The central figure is a heavily moustachioed grandee, who Richard and Robinson suggest represents the young Shah ‘Abbas (Robinson, op.cit., 1976, no.514, p.144). Throughout our manuscript there appear to be depictions of the same figure, in the guise of Bahram Gur in the variously coloured pavilions, for instance. The final bifolio of our manuscript also includes a figure who resembles Shah ‘Abbas out hunting with a hunting party. Interestingly, many of the manuscripts of the group also include foreign delegations in the opening bifolio illustrations – in ours, Indians in the lower left hand corner (see also the manuscript in the India Office Library) and in others Europeans or Turks (see that in the India Office Library).

Although Isfahan is the city that becomes most closely associated with painting and the arts of the book in the early 17^th century, this manuscript and those of the related group attest to the existence of an atelier in Shiraz that was capable of producing luxury manuscripts into the third decade of the 17^th century. It has been noted that the school did not survive the death of the governor Imam Quli Khan in 1632 and that its existence may have been connected with his patronage (Richard, op.cit., 1997, p.204). Our manuscript, which clearly names another patron indicates that there was a wider interest in the arts of the book in Shiraz at the time.

In his description of the Kulliyat of ‘Urfi Shirazi in the John Rylands library, Robinson refers to the manuscript as "among the finest 17^th century manuscripts and in pristine condition throughout”. This manuscript is an equally impressive demonstration of the arts of the Safavid bookmaker.

The paintings are all illustrations of scenes from Nizami’s Khamsa.

f. 386v. The Mi‘raj (Makhzan al-Asrar)
f. 374r. Sultan Sanjar and the Old Woman (Makhzan al-Asrar)
f. 341v. Khusraw spies Shirin bathing (Khusraw and Shirin)
f. 296r. Shirin responds to Khusraw who stands before her castle (Khusraw and Shirin).
f. 277v. Buzurg-Umid counsels Khusraw (Khusraw and Shirin)
f. 273v. Shirin commits suicide on Khusraw’s body (Khusraw and Shirin)
f. 254r. Majnun’s father asks for Layli’s hand (Layli and Majnun)
f. 245v. The battle of Nawfal and Layli’s tribe (Layli and Majnun)
f. 224v. Majnun recites poetry before Layli (Layli and Majnun)
f. 217r. Layli and Majnun together (Layli and Majnun)
f. 211v. Majnun dies at Layli’s tomb (Layli and Majnun)
f. 198v. Bahram Gur and kills and a lion and a wild ass with a single shot (Haft Paykar)
f. 185r. Bahram Gur in the black pavilion (Haft Paykar)
f. 178r. Bahram Gur in the yellow pavilion (Haft Paykar)
f. 174v. Bahram Gur in the green pavilion (Haft Paykar)
f. 171r. Bahram Gur in the red pavilion (Haft Paykar)
f. 166v. Bahram Gur in the turquoise pavilion (Haft Paykar)
f. 160v. Bahram Gur in the sandalwood pavilion (Haft Paykar)
f. 155v. Bahram Gur in the white pavilion (Haft Paykar)
f. 128v. Tutiyanush’s throat is slit on the order of the king of the Zangis (Sharafnama)
f. 113v. Iskandar fight’s Dara’s army (Sharafnama)
f. 77v. Iskandar is hosted by the Khaqan of Chin (Sharafnama)
f. 39v. Iskandar debates the sages (Iqbalnama)
f. 30r. Iskandar admires the mausoleum of Shaddad in the Garden of Iram (Iqbalnama)