Divan by Sultan Ahmad Jalayir
A later inscription attributes this copy of collected poems by Sultan Ahmad Jalayir (died 1410) to Mir Ali Tabrizi, the “inventor” of the nasta‘liq script. The stylistic similarity of this Divan and the Khusraw u Shirin signed by Mir Ali confirms this attribution. Slight variation in the thickness of the strokes and the overall impression of horizontality in the lines indicate they are the work of the same calligrapher.
Mir Ali’s text appears in the central frame of the folios. Sometime in the sixteenth century, the text of the Gulistan (Rose garden) by the poet Sa‘di (died 1292) was added into the margins. Even though both texts are copied in nasta‘liq, the difference between the two styles, written at least two hundred years apart, is easily discernible.
Divan by Sultan Ahmad Jalayir
Attributed to Mir Ali Tabrizi (act. ca. 1370–1410)
Iran, Tabriz, or Iraq, Baghdad, Jalayirid period, ca. 1400
Ink, color, and gold on paper
Purchase
Freer Gallery of Art F1932.29 folios 181v–182r
