Файл:Nur al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman Jami (d. 1492); Diwan, Safavid Persia, 1563-64.jpg

English: Nur al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman Jami (d. AH 898/1492 AD): Diwan

Safavid Persia, AH 971-972/1563-64 AD

Comprising Tuhfat al-ahrar, Salaman wa Absal, Silsilat al-thahab, Layla wa Majnun, Yusuf wa Zulaykha, Subhat al-abrar, Khiradnama-i Iskandari, Fardiyat, Risalah qafiyah, Muqtati'at, Ruba'iyat, Wasitat-i al-'aqd, Khatimat-i al-hayyat, and Tuhfat-i al-shabab, Persian manuscript on gold-sprinkled light buff paper, 440ff. with 14ll. of black nasta'liq in two gold-outlined columns written horizontally with approximately 25ll. of smaller nasta'liq written diagonally in two columns around the main text, margins, corner-pieces, and inter-columnar rules on each page decorated with floral motifs in gold on blue, orange and pink grounds, headings and significant verses picked out in white and gold, chapter headings in rectangular panels illuminated with gold and polychrome, opening finely illuminated gold and polychrome shamsa bifolio containing the names of the different works within gold roundels, following similarly illuminated bifolio with the title Diwan and Mawlana Abdul-Rahman Jami written in fine gold nasta'liq on blue panels, thirty two double pages with lavishly iluminated borders depicting exotic birds and animals such as sinmurghs, dragons and gazelles among trees, flowers and foliage in gold and in silver when depicting water, surrounding the miniatures and the beginning of the individual works, nineteen large miniatures, folios 349a, 432a, and 440a with four colophons giving the name of the scribe as Shah Muhammud al-Katib al-Shirazi and dated 971 and 972, each miniature with a large seal impression containing Qur'an sura II verse 129 in the margin, manuscript overall in good condition, slight water staining to lower edge of folios, miniatures in good condition, occasional small repairs, in 19th century black morocco binding with gold tooled central panel and spandrels in the Safavid style, decoupé doublures Folio 16.1/8 x 10¼in. (41 x 26.2cm.); miniatures and text area 10¼ x 5.7/8in. (26.2 x 15cm.)

List of miniatures Folio 18a A simple-hearted man who has been robbed ties his drawers around his head, surrounded by a group of men on a rocky hillside. Folio 37b Night scene with a king, probably Iskander, seated under a canopy in front of a dark mountain covered with coloured pebbles; he tells his men that they are gems. Folio 64b An Ethiopian (Habashi) looks up at a maiden who stands at a window, her ladies watching from a balcony. Folio 78a The Ethiopian attempts to rescue the maiden from the sea, watched by the passengers of a crowded boat. Folio 103b A court scene with a seated ruler listening to an older man who reads from a manuscript Folio 112b The philosopher tells the king the beginning of the story of Salaman and Absal. Folio 125b An outdoor court scene with a seated prince, probably Salaman surounded by courtiers. Folio 150b The fickle old lover throws himself at the feet of a princess in a landscape. Folio 182a The fickle old man distracted by love throws himself down from the princess's balcony. Folio 217b Zulaykha, mad with love for Yusuf, has to be restrained with chains in her quarters. Folio 229b The Aziz of Egypt prostrates himself before Yusuf on a carpet in front of Yusuf, in an encampment on a rocky hillside. Folio 248a The maids of Zulaykha are overcome by Yusuf's beauty and accidentally cut their fingers while peeling oranges. Folio 273a An imam delivers a sermon from minbar inside the mosque while veiled women with a child listen from a gallery. Folio 295b Majnun in the wilderness surrounded by wild beasts writes Layla's name in the sand. Folio 310b Majnun in the wilderness surrounded by wild beasts with Layla's name tatooed on his chest. Folio 354a Khusrau Parviz and Shirin are presented with a fish. Folio 390b Sufis dance in an enclosed courtyard with onlookers watching from a balcony. Folio 408b A polo game on a hillside. Folio 429b A youth bathes in a stream while he talks to a bearded man, his clothes hanging form a branch of a tree.

The large seal impression stamped on each folio where there is a miniature is verse 139 from sura II of the Qur'an. It reads " Who but a foolish man would renounce the faith of Abraham? We choose him in this world, and in the world he shall abide among the righteous". The only name in this quotation, Abraham or Ibrahim could refer to Sultan Ibrahim Mirza a son of Bahram Mirza, and the nephew of Shah Tahmasp who reigned from 1524 to 1576. Ibrahim Mirza was born in 1540 and was brought to the royal harem on the death of his father. He became a favourite of his uncle Tahmasp. He became Governor of Mashhad in 1554-55 and established there his own kitabkhane which was to produce the renowned Haft Awrang of Jami, now in the Freer Gallery in Washington D.C. (Simpson, M.S.: Sultan Ibrahim Mirza's Haft Awrang, Yale, 1997) From 1556-7 Sultan Ibrahim became Governor of Sabzivar until 1574 when he returned to Qazvin. The scribe of this manuscript, Shah Muhammad al-Katib al-Shirazi was certainly working in Sabzivar in 1587, judging from a colophon of a Shahnama manuscript in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. It is possible that he was recruited from Shiraz by Sultan Ibrahim Mirza to work for him in Mashhad and from there moved with him to Sabzivar where he remained after the untimely death of his patron.

Two other illustrated manuscripts of Jami copied by Shah Muhammad are in the Topkapi Sarayi Muzesi, Istanbul (TKS H 810) and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris (OR 4122).

It is likely that this mansucript was either produced in the workshop of Sultan Ibrahim Mirza or entered his library in his lifetime. The quality of the paper, the lavish gold decoration of the borders and the rich illumination throughout, especially the magnificent shamsa at the beginning may be compared to those on the opening pages of Qur'ans produced for Shah Tahmasp.