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Manuscript/Mixed Material Quatrain on reaching divine unity

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About this Item

Title

  • Quatrain on reaching divine unity

Names

  • Imad al-Hasani

Created / Published

  • early 17th century

Headings

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

Notes

  • -  A Persian quatrain, or ruba'i, on spiritual transformation, written by calligrapher (Mir) 'Imad al-Hasani written in Nasta'liq script, from Safavid Persia.
  • -  Below the quatrain, the calligrapher (Mir) 'Imad al-Hasani has signed his work with his name and a request for God's forgiveness. Mir 'Imad (d. 1615) was born in 1552, spent time in Herat and Qazvin, and finally settled in Isfahan (then capital of Safavid Persia), where, as a result of his implication in court intrigues, he was murdered in 1615. He was a master of nasta'liq script, whose works were admired and copied by his contemporaries, and later collected by the Mughals (Welch et al 1987: 32-36).
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 9.6 (w) x 17.5 (h) cm
  • -  Many works in international collections are signed by him (inter alia, Safwat 1996, cat. nos. 53 and 62; and Lowry and Beach 1988: no. 456), although whether all these pieces are by his hand remains uncertain. Other calligraphies bearing his name in the collections of the Library of Congress include: 1-84-154.3, 1-84-154.43, 1-85-154.77, 1-87-154.160, 1-90-154.162, and 1-99-106.13 R.
  • -  Ta hasil-i dardam sabab darman shud / Pastim bulandi shud u kufr iman shud / Jan u dil u tan hijab-i rah bud kunun / Tan dil shud u dil jan shud u jan janan shud
  • -  The mystic describes his path towards God as veiled (hijab) because of his physical self. Only once he transforms himself into pure spirit can he be united with God, the "Spirit of Spirits" (jan janan). This motif of revelation and divine unity through spiritual metamorphosis is typical of mystical ('irfani) poets such as Rumi.
  • -  This calligraphic fragment includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, on the subject of spiritual transformation. At the top right, an invocation to God ("huwa al-'aziz," or "He is the Glorified") precedes the quatrain's verses, which read:
  • -  When the close of my pain became the reason of my cure / My lowness changed into loftiness, and disbelief became faith / Spirit and heart and body were the obstacle to the path (toward God) / But now body became heart, heart became spirit, and spirit became the "Spirit of Spirits"
  • -  Script: nasta'liq
  • -  1-85-154.72

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 21 (w) x 34.3 (h) cm

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714614

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:

Imad Al-Hasani. Quatrain on Reaching Divine Unity. Early 17th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714614/.

APA citation style:

Imad Al-Hasani. Quatrain on Reaching Divine Unity. Early 17th Century. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714614/.

MLA citation style:

Imad Al-Hasani. Quatrain on Reaching Divine Unity. Early 17th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714614/>.