Haft Awrang,

cornerstone of Persian literature

The Haft Awrang is a cornerstone of Persian literature, an epic anthology of poetry by the famous Persian poet Jami (d. 1492), with themes of religion, philosophy and Sufism running throughout.

The present manuscript includes 6 of the 7 'books' (lacking only Salaman o Absal) in the anthology and is illustrated with 13 miniatures throughout the text. The 6 'books' appear in the following order: (1) Selselat adh-dhahab, a collection of didactic anecdotes presented as three parts in this volume; (2) Tohfat ol-ahrar 'Gift of the Free; (3) Sabhat al-abrar 'Rosary of the Pious', another collection of didactic anecdotes; (4) Yusuf wa Zuleykha, the romance of Yusuf and Zuleykha the wife of Potiphar; (5) Leili o Majnun (6) Kheradname'ye Eskandari, an account of events leading up to alexander's death.

Single volume, illuminated manuscript on paper, in Farsi, with 13 illuminated miniatures in the text (many of these full page), 291 leaves of which 36 are manuscript facsimile (the first 28 leaves of text and 8 of the final 14 leaves), textually complete, 240 x 175 mm; 4 columns black nasta'liq text, 8 illuminated polychrome headings (many retouched), 13 illuminated miniatures in the text (many retouched with later borders and decorations added), catch-words, margins heavily restored (rarely affecting text-block), some early seal impressions to margins, leaves trimmed with partial loss to upper edge of head-pieces, opening folio to Yusuf and Zuleikha chapter with small hole in the middle of the leaf affecting text and partial loss to small section of miniature to reverse; in nineteenth-century leather-backed boards, rebacked, resewn and edges repaired.