JALAL AL–DIN MUHAMMAD RUMI

MS 5322
MS Short Title JALAL AL–DIN MUHAMMAD RUMI
Text JALAL AL–DIN MUHAMMAD RUMI: MATHNAVI-I MA’NAVI
Description MS in Persian on paper, Shiraz, 1479, 358 ff. (complete), 22x11 cm, 2 columns, (18x9 cm), 19 lines, + 39 lines written diagonally in the margins, in Nasta’liq and Naskhi scripts by Hussain ibn Shaikh ‘Ali, inter-columnar and inner and outer margins ruled in gold, headings and corner sections written in gold with cloud banks or in white script on gold ground with floral motifs in green and blue, preface with gold Nasta’liq script on a ground of white clouds with borders illuminated in gold and colours, numerous ownership inscriptions and 17 seal impressions, including some from the Imperial Mughal Library.
Binding India, 19th c. brown morocco, sewn on 3 cords.
Context Several unidentified owners’ stamps and inscriptions.
Provenance 1. Jamal al-Din Ibrahim Khalifah al-Khafri, Shiraz (1479-); 2. Imperial Mughal Library, Dehli (18th-19th c.); 3. Sam Fogg, London.
Commentary The Mathnavi, comprising some 27,000 couplets in style of mystical Persian metre, is among the most famous Persian poems, and probably the most important Islamic mystical work – a status reflected in its unofficial title of “Qur’an-i Farsi” or “The Qur’an in Persian”. Jalal al-Din Rumi, born 1207 in Balkh, Afghanistan, following the Mongolian invasion of Genghis Khan, fled to Konya in Anatolia. A major turning point took place in 1244 when the wandering dervish Shams al-Din Tabrizi made an appearance in Konya. The mystical love felt by Rumi for the dervish was the cause of Rumi’s turning to the Sufi path and transforming him into a poet.
Place of origin Shiraz
Dates 1479