Unknown - Hafez-Diwan - 1815

A fine bi-folio miniature of Kashmiri origin copied from the Divan written by Mohammed Shama od-din Hafez (1329-1399), and in very good condition. The Hafez-Diwan is a collection of poems, primarily ghazals, by the 14th-century Persian poet Hafez, a Sufi Muslim who practised a mystical form of Islam. His name 'Hafez' was given to those Muslims who could recite the Holy Koran by heart. The poems explore themes of love (both earthly and divine), spirituality, hypocrisy, and the fleeting nature of life, often through celebrations of wine and intoxication. The Diwan is a cornerstone of Persian literature, with poems used in daily life, for musical inspiration, and for bibliomancy (fortune-telling) in Iran.

Written on fine burnished paper, the bi-folio is scribed in elegant nasta'liq in black ink by a fine hand. Rather than arabesque borders which the Diwan from Kashmir often have, the scribe has taken greater liberties in how he presents the Diwan, through geometrical patters in which can be found floral decoration. Each folio is framed with a thick inner god frame line and a thin outer blue frame.

This folio depicts a scene described rather brutally as, " A sleeping man is decapitated in his tent". The right folio consists of a series of expressions starting with "you made my"..... and continues, my heart bleed; my eyes shed tears; my heart a home for sorrow; me eyes a river of tears; my heart a target for more arrows; my eyes a fountain of blood; my heart a slave to sorrow etc.

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