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Manuscript of the Mathnavi-i Ma‘navi by Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi

The manuscript opens with a lavishly gilded and richly illuminated double-page frontispiece. The text is copied in naskh in four columns and twenty-five lines to a page. Four other headings at the beginning of each chapter (daftar) are exquisitely illuminated and enclosed in floral decorations on the margins. The colophons at the end of these books indicate that they were finished in Rabi II 1019 (June-July 1610), 7 Shawwal 1019 (23 December 1610), 25 Dhu al-hijjah 1020 (28 February 1612), 8 Rabi II 1024 (7 May 1615) spanning five years. The light brown binding with lighter-tone flap has a gilt-stamped central medallion depicting a bird on a tree, a rabbit and a fox. The inner covers of burgundy color carry a central medallion and pendants, which are decorated with arabesque filigrees on blue, green and white grounds. During the binding repair the lower board has been installed upside-down.

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art Ezzat-Malek Soudavar Geneva Switzerland (by 2014) by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar Houston Texas (2014) loan; to Harvard Art Museums 2015. Note: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum Loan from A. Soudavar in memory of his mother Ezzat-Malek Soudavar

1615 17th century Safavid period

Persian

Title: Manuscript of the Mathnavi-i Ma‘navi by Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi

Description:

The manuscript opens with a lavishly gilded and richly illuminated double-page frontispiece.

The text is copied in naskh in four columns and twenty-five lines to a page.

Four other headings at the beginning of each chapter (daftar) are exquisitely illuminated and enclosed in floral decorations on the margins.

The colophons at the end of these books indicate that they were finished in Rabi II 1019 (June-July 1610), 7 Shawwal 1019 (23 December 1610), 25 Dhu al-hijjah 1020 (28 February 1612), 8 Rabi II 1024 (7 May 1615) spanning five years.

The light brown binding with lighter-tone flap has a gilt-stamped central medallion depicting a bird on a tree, a rabbit and a fox.

The inner covers of burgundy color carry a central medallion and pendants, which are decorated with arabesque filigrees on blue, green and white grounds.

During the binding repair the lower board has been installed upside-down.

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