with 20 illustrations in the text.
Kashmir, North India, circa 1810 AD.
The volume is illuminated with 20 scenes from the epic, these include: Zulaykha, having broken the pieces of her golden idol, prays to her one true god; Ibraham in conversation with a lady while Yusuf sleeps; Zulaykha mourns the death of Yusuf; the ascension of Prophet Muhammad into heaven; Yusuf watches Zulaykha sleep; Zulaykha before Yusuf, trying to seduce him in the night; the Vizier comes to met Zulaykha; Zulaykha, peeking through a hole in the tent, discovers that the Vizier isn't Yusuf; Yusuf's brothers ask their father Jacob to allow Yusuf to join them in the countryside; Zulaykha prevents Yusuf from leaving the Palace; Zulaykha shows Yusuf her seven room palace.
single volume, illuminated manuscript on gold-sprinkled paper with 20 illuminated miniatures in the text, in Farsi, 190 leaves plus three later endpapers (text leaves mis-bound and uncollatable, incomplete at end), 123 by 80 mm; double column throughout, 11 lines black nastaliq (Mughal style), occasionally arranged in diagonal lines to form geometric shapes in the text, 20 half-page miniatures in the text depicting scenes from the story, these heightened in gold, some smudges to ink and lightly soiled in places, a few small chips and small tears rarely affecting text; housed in contemporary Kashmiri lacquered boards painted with delicate floral designs framed within an arabesque border, rebacked in later dark green morocco.
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