This is an illuminated and illustrated Mughal copy of a <em>dīvān</em> (collection of poems) by the eminent poet and hagiographer of Islamic India, Hasan Dihlavī, who died in about 1338. The manuscript was written in <em>nasta‘līq</em> script by ‘Abd Allāh Mushkīn Qalam (Amber-Scented Pen), in Allāhābād in 1011 AH (1602 AD), according to the colophon on folio 187a, although the illustration on that page identifies the calligrapher as Mir `Abd Allah Katib. Both were celebrated royal calligraphers. Abd Allāh Mushkīn Qalam worked in Allāhābād for Prince Salim, who later became the Mughal emperor, Jahāngīr. The manuscript opens with a double-page illuminated incipit and is illustrated with 14 paintings, including a portrait of the calligrapher himself on folio 187a. The lacquer binding has intricate all-over illumination in which the main element is a pattern of gold strapwork with floral motifs, attributable to the 19th century.
<br>Calligraphy, Persian; Illuminations; Persian poetry; Poetry
Ḥasan Dihlavī, 1253 or 4-circa 1338
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