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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy

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Prayers for the New Year (Noruz)

AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: Muhammad Bakhsh

CREATED/PUBLISHED
1211/1796-7

NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 10.2 (w) x 18.2 (h) cm

Script: naskh

This calligraphic panel is executed in black (Indian) naskh on a pink paper decorated with gold cloud motifs and pasted to a light blue backing. It is signed by Muhammad Bakhsh and dated 1211/1796-7 in the lower left corner. In the upper right corner, an invocation to 'Ali (Oh 'Ali, the Greatest, or Ya 'Ali al-a'ala) shows that the work emerged from a Shi'i milieu. The iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, that follows reads:

Ay akhtar-i burj-i sa'd ba bakht-i sa'id / Bar khiz tarab guzin ka noruz rasid / Har va'da ka iqbal namud ast bi-to / Al-hal qarib ast agar bud ba'id

Oh Star of the Constellation of Destiny (endowed) with good luck / Rise up and be merry because the New Year has arrived. / Every promise that Fortune has made to you / Is now close, if it (ever) had been far.

This poem wishes a ruler (nicknamed the "Star of the Constellation of Destiny") everlasting good fortune and the fulfillment of promises on the occasion of New Year's. This New Year, or noruz, is most likely the Spring equinox (March 21st) marking the beginning of the solar calendar as celebrated in Iran and parts of India. It appears that this calligraphic panel was executed on such an occasion to celebrate the New Year and to wish a patron prosperity for the years to come. 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 1-04-713.19.49).

SUBJECT
Arabic calligraphy
Arabic script calligraphy
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Islamic calligraphy
Islamic manuscripts
Naskh

MEDIUM
14.6 (w) x 22.5 (h) cm

CALL NUMBER
1-84-154.51

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

DIGITAL ID
ascs 098
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.098

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