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Yusuf wa Zuleikha, by Abdul Rahman JAMI

Creator: Abdul Rahman JAMI
Offered by: Shapero Gallery

Description
JAMI, Abdul Rahman.

Yusuf wa Zuleikha,
with 6 miniatures in the text and some leaves copied on marbled paper

Stock Code 110730
Early Safavid Persia, peorbably Herat, dated 92[1] AH (1515 AD).

Current price$16,541.00
Copied only 23 years after the author's death. An exceptionally early manuscript example of the well-known medieval Islamic allegorical love story between Yusuf and Zulaykha (Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in the biblical context) by the prolific Persian poet Jami (d. 1492). Thought the story is a familiar one to Muslims and has been retold over the centuries, this lyrical retelling of the story by Jami is by far the most popular. It first appeared in his famous his Haft Awrang, where the epic took on new Sufi interpretations of human passions transcending into divine love through Jami's lyrics. It's now considered one of the masterpieces of Sufi literature and a classical example of Qur'anic narrative being retold through the Sufi imagination: including interpretations whereby Zulaykha's longing for Yusuf represents the soul's quest for God.

This manuscript has 6 miniatures in the text that are executed in a Timurid style, the fall of the Timurid empire being a few years before the copying of this example, and there are very few extant manuscripts of Jami's text that contain illustrations as early as the present example.

Furthermore, this manuscript contains additional decoration in the form of marbled and dyed paper with examples appearing throughout the codex. The origins of the art of paper marbling are somewhat obscure. Although there are traces of the artform from Japan in the 12th century, the practice of marbling paper (as it is known today) is thought to have originated from Persia in the fifteenth century. From there it spread to the Ottoman world where it further grew in popularity and was exported to the European market, who then in turn began producing their own marbled paper from the early seventeenth century. The examples of dyed and marbled paper present in this manuscript are of a very fine quality and were probably produced in the first half of the sixteenth century (or late fifteenth century), making them very early examples of their kind. It is also unusual to see marbled paper here used as full text leaves instead of adorning the outer margins of calligraphic specimens (to form an album page), as often.

Single volume, illuminated manuscript on fibrous paper, some leaves on blue and green dyed paper and some on fine marbled paper, in Farsi, with 6 illuminated miniatures in the text, 184 leaves, 154 x 102 mm; double column, 12 lines of strong black nasta'liq, ruled in gilt and blue, gilt and blue frames per page, with 6 half-page miniatures, many of these rubbed and faded, finger-soiling, some ink staining, a few later marginal annotations, a few margins repaired, first leaf laid down and final leaf torn with partial loss to text; in nineteenth-century gilt-stamped purple velvet over boards, extremities rubbed.

More Information

Documentation:	Documented elsewhere (exact item)
Period:	Pre 18th Century
Condition:	Good.
Styles / Movements:	Traditional
Dealer Reference #:	110730
Incollect Reference #:	738495

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