A manuscript of wise sayings, signed by Malik al-Daylami, Persia, Safavid, dated 960 AH/1552-53 AD

Persian manuscript on cream paper sprinkled lightly with gold, set into papers of varying colours flecked with gold, 7 lines to the page, written in fine nasta'liq script in black ink, text separated by segmented gold florets, f.3b giving the name Abu’l-Muzaffar Shah Tahmasp Bahadur Khan in blue and gold ink amid the text, occasional later interlinear Turkish words in red, margins ruled in colours and gold, opening page with illuminated headpiece in colours and gold, later paper-covered binding with illuminated decoration and gilt-tooled leather borders  

In generally good overall condition, some water stains and other light stains, pages cropped to accommodate later binding, as viewed.
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The present manuscript is composed of six folios of wise sayings, many of Khwajah ‘Abdullah Ansari, the Herati Sufi who lived in the eleventh century. Whilst the text doesn't explicitly say that the text was commissioned by Shah Tahmasp (r.1524-76), it does includes praises to him, and was executed during his lifetime by the scribe Malik al-Daylami.

Born in Qazvin, Malik al-Daylami was a calligrapher at the court of Shah Tahmasp. He originally started as a thuluth and naskh scribe, but became a master in nasta’liq. He first worked for Prince Ibrahim Mirza in Mashhad and was later called by Shah Tahmasp to Qazvin to write the inscriptions of the buildings there and died in August 1562. Malik was responsible for creating Amir Husayn Bayg’s album, now in the Topkapi Palace Library (H2151). His recorded work is dated between 954 AH/1547-48 AD and 968 AH/1560-61 AD (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-navisan, vol.3, Tehran, 1348sh, pp.598-609; Minorsky, Calligraphers and Painters, Washington, 1959, pp.141-5).