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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy

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'Id (feast day) Blessing

AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: unknown

CREATED/PUBLISHED
18th century (?)

NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 22.1 (w) x 8 (h) cm

Script: nasta'liq

This calligraphic panel executed in nasta'liq script on a beige paper sprinkled with gold flecks is provided with a (water damaged) frame and is pasted to a brown piece of paper strengthened with cardboard. Between the two lines of calligraphy, which offer a prayer to a ruler on the occasion of 'id, appears another small fragment cut out and pasted in the center left. It reads: "In the name of Muhammad and Muhammad's family [prayers upon them] (bi-haqq-i Muhammad wa Al-i Muhammad, slm.). The two main lines of calligraphy read:

haqq-i ta'ala in 'id-ra bi-dhat 'ali (ya) / Navab Sahib dama iqbaluhu mubarak va humayun gardanad

On this 'id, may God the Exalted bring to the high essence of our Majesty, / Navab Sahib, everlasting, blessed, and good fortune.

This poem wishes a ruler (described as a "high essence," or dhat 'ali) everlasting happiness and good fortune on the occasion of 'id. This festival may be New Year (noruz), that is, the Spring equinox (March 21st) marking the beginning of the solar calendar as celebrated in Iran and parts of India. An Indian provenance is supported by the fact that the title "Navab Sahib" was used, for example, by rulers of the Junagadh province in northern India from the 18th to the 20th centuries.

It appears that this calligraphic panel was executed to celebrate the New Year and to wish a princely patron unending prosperity. This practice of offering good wishes in written form during New Year's celebrations is attested to in a number of other calligraphic specimens in the Library of Congress (see 1-04-713.19.3, 1-04-713.19.48, and 1-84-154.51).

SUBJECT
Arabic calligraphy
Islamic manuscripts
Islamic calligraphy
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Arabic script calligraphy
Nasta'liq

MEDIUM
35 (w) x 22.3 (h) cm

CALL NUMBER
1-04-713.19.49

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

DIGITAL ID
ascs 043
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.043

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