A leaf with a beautifully illuminated header of Zand dynastic origin, dated AH1192 (AD1778/9). The Zand dynasty was an Iranian dynasty, founded by Karim Khan Zand ( r. 1751–1779) that initially ruled southern and central Iran in the 18th century. The leaf is from a copy of the Mathnawi by Jalal al-Din Rumia, one of the greatest Sufi Muslim poets. The Mathnawi (Arabic: مثنوي mathnawī) or masnavi (Persian: مثنوی Mas̲navī), is regarded as the most influential poetic work of muslim mysticism, taking Rumi 25 years to dictate, although the 6th and final book was never completed before he died. It was composed for the benefit of a group of Rumi’s disciples in the Sufi order better known as the whirling dervishes. The text, derived from the Quran, teaches Sufis how to reach their goal of being truly in love with God. The text is black nasta'liq with gold margins and divisions. To the reverse (see image 5d) are commentary and ownership marks. Please note that shipping costs are not solely the cost of the postal delivery service itself. Included within the shipping price is the work undertaken to prepare the article, for photography, for uploading to Catawiki, for preparation and packaging the article securely and for transporting the article to the postal delivery agent for processing. Also, please consider when bidding on this lot that this artwork is shipped from the UK. Import duties will now have to be paid by the recipient to the Postal Service when the parcel arrives in your country. This will likely vary between 5% and 20% of the sale price depending on your country's Import Rate, so please check this if you are concerned. This is a Tax collected on behalf of your Government and is not an additional fee charged by us.