Bidspirit auction | Six Miniatures after Jami's Masnavi

Six Miniatures after Jami's Masnavi ''Yusuf va Zulaykha'' - Six miniatures after Jami's Masnavi ''Yusuf va Zulaykha'' Indo-Persian, 18th/19th century. Paper, decorated with fine polychrome miniatures in gold and gouache, as well as Persian calligraphy. Visible dimensions: 16 × 8.8 cm and 10.3 × 14.5 cm. Framed under glass: 54.5 × 55 cm. Condition: Paper browned and slightly soiled; one miniature with small tears bottom right. Glass frame damaged bottom left. Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami was a Persian poet and mystic of the 15th century. These six miniatures illustrate episodes from his Masnavi ''Yusuf va Zulaykha'' (Joseph and Zuleikha). Among others, depicted are: the mythological steed al-Buraq descending from heaven to carry the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Paradise; and the scene where Zuleikha is escorted to Egypt to marry the vizier. The seven-part Masnavi poetry includes the works Sisilat al-zahab, Masnawi-i Salaman, Tuhfat al-ahrar, Subhat al-abrar, Yusuf va Zulaykha, Layla va Majnun, and Khiradnamah-i Iskandari. Jami often drew inspiration from earlier poets whose writings were considered classical models. During his lifetime, his works spread far beyond the Persian-speaking world; some treatises also found their way into the Arabic literary world. In the form of artfully crafted copies, often adorned with miniatures, they reached the Ottoman Empire and the court of the Mughals in India in translation, where they became formative for subsequent generations of poets.