Leili o Majnun,

copied only three years after the author's death

Abdullah Hatifi (1454-1521 AD) was a distinguished poet, notably the nephew of the famous Abd al-Rahman Jami, and much respected in the circles of the Timurid Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara and the Safavid Emperor Ismail I. As well as writing poetry, Hatefi is known for compiling the Timurnama which was commissioned by Shah Isma'il after they met before the Safavids fought the Uzbeks in 1511 AD.

Hatefi spent most of his life in Herat but also travelled across to Tabriz and the eastern regions of the Persian Empire between 1485 and 1490 with fellow poet Amir Homayun Esfaraini. During this trip he is known to have stayed at the court of the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Yaqub Beg (r. 1478–1490) and also became acquainted with the infamous artist Kamul ud-Din Behzad.

The present manuscript is described as being copied in Qazvin, a short distance from Tabriz, only three years after the death of Hatifi - making this a notably early example of the text.

Single volume, illustrated manuscript on paper, in Farsi, 86 leaves, 150 x 102 mm; double column, 11 lines very fine and elegant black nasta'liq, text-blocks framed within gilt ruling, some sections smudged and some soiling, many borders repaired (rarely affecting text), a few closed marginal tears; in nineteenth-century sheep over pasteboards, covers ruled in blind with centrally stamped medallions, extremities rubbed, corners and spine ends a little worn.