Eastern Encounters
Drawn from the Royal Library's collection of South Asian books and manuscripts
CAT. NO. 7
Folio from a Mughal album (Calligraphy by Muhammad Husayn Kashmiri).
Mughal, <i>c.</i>1600Folio from an early Mughal album (see cat. no. 3) | A composite page: black ink and gold metallic paint and opaque watercolour on plain, marbled and dyed papers; set into margins of gold metallic paint on light green paper | 37.0 × 24.0 cm (folio); 24.7 × 13.4 cm (panel) | RCIN 1005063
This folio contains three verses of poetry written on marbled paper by the master Muhammad Husayn, whose name is found at the bottom left corner of each. Above the quatrain on the left is the name of the poet at the court of the Emperor Akbar, Mullah Taleb Sepahani (i.e. of Esfahan), better known as Baba Taleb (d. 1626/7).[24] His verse reads:
When the kindness of my two brothers harmonised
One went off on a trip and the other came back from one
The first went, and went out of the trail of his life
And the second arrived, and my life, which was gone, came back to me[25]
EH/ASMC
[24] See Haft Eqlim, vol. 3, under ‘Esfahan’.
[25] Translation by Assadullah Souren Melikian Chirvani.
