Sad Kalima (THe hundred sayings of Imam 'Ali), Shiraz, Persia, Timurid, dated 845 AH/1441 AD and 848 AH/1444 AD

Arabic manuscript on paper, 38 leaves, 11 lines or fewer to the page, written in naskh and muhaqqaq scripts in black ink on buff paper, subheadings in gold outlined in black, two illuminated and polychrome headpieces with titles in gold Kufic script within scrolling floral cartouches, dated twice, in circa 16th century Ottoman gilt-stamped binding.

Bibliothèque Louis Barthou, auction in Paris, 15-17 June, 1936

In fairly good overall condition, some areas of waterstaining, repairs to margins, ink strong and bold, some slight worming and rubbing to binding, as viewed.
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This manuscript contains the text compiled for Rashid Vatvat (d.1182 AD) known as the hundred sayings of Imam 'Ali, with the Persian translation in the form of a poem in naskh, set between lines of grander thuluth script. The calligraphy demonstrates the remarkable dexterity and style of the Shiraz school under Timurid patronage. The finesse of the two frontispieces is reminiscent of two manuscripts, produced for the Timurid ruler Ibrahim Sultan in 1424 and 1430, and kept in the Sanctuary of Mashad (No.414) and the Pars Museum, Shiraz (No.430) respectively.

At the end of the Sad Kalima there is another illuminated frontispiece followed by the risala-ye hourouf in order of the Arabic alphabet. The oldest known version of the Sad Kalima presented in an anthology was executed in 1174 at Mosul and is housed in the Bibliothèque Jaffet in Beirut, (MS 297.08). A further copy of the Sad Kalima, executed in the fifteenth century by an anonymous calligrapher which presents a number of similarities to the present example, can be found in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, no.126.