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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy

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The sound of insanity

AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: Munshi Ram (attr.)

CREATED/PUBLISHED
18th century

NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 10 (w) x 18.1 (h) cm

Script: nasta'liq

This calligraphic fragment includes four verses of poetry in Persian describing the simple mark and sound of insanity (i.e., the chain). The verses read:

Man u zanjir ka / Hamnala bi-rah aftadim / Dasht divana juda / Shurash u farzana juda

I and the chain that / Were walking and lamenting together / (that is what) causes the separation between craziness / and enjoyment and wisdom.

The text is written in nasta'liq script in white ink on a red ground. The lines of text are separated by green or blue bands decorated with flower and vine motifs painted in gold.

In the lower right corner appears the calligrapher's signature: "katabahu al-'abd al-haqar al-anam" (written by the servant, the most humble of mortals), Munshi Ram. This calligrapher may be identified as Munshi Ram (1737-90), a writer specializing in Arabic and Persian who was active in Radhanagar, West Bengal (India).

Another specimen signed by Munshi Ram is held in the collections of the Library of Congress (1-04-713.19.55). Judging from both specimens, he seems to have been an 18th-century calligrapher who preferred writing verses in nasta'liq script using white ink on red backgrounds.

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

MEDIUM
24 (w) x 36.2 (h) cm

CALL NUMBER
1-04-713.19.54

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

DIGITAL ID
ascs 049
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.049

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