• Yūsuf va Zulaykhā (Yusuf and Zulaikha)
    يوسف و زليخا

Author:
  • Jāmī, 1414-1492
Publisher:
  • [India?], [between 1775 and 1779]
Extent:
  • iv, 210, iv leaves : paper, colored illustrations ; 197 x 126 (149 x 83) mm bound to 200 x 133 mm.
Format:
Abstract:
  • Jāmī's mas̲navī of the love story of Yūsuf and Zulaykhā, illustrated with 69 miniatures of above-average quality.
Contents:
  • Miniatures: fol. 9a: [Miʻrāj of the Prophet Muḥammad]
  • fol. 12b: [Khvājah ʻUbayd Allāh]
  • fol. 14b: [Sulṭān Ḥusayn Bāyqarā]
  • fol. 18b: [Dervish sitting before his shaykh]
  • fol. 22b: [Yūsuf, Yaʻqūb, and five brothers]
  • fol. 24b: [Yūsuf and his aunt]
  • fol. 25b: [Yaʻqūb, Yūsuf, his aunt, and the stolen belt]
  • fol. 27a: [Zulaykhā's father]
  • fol. 31b: [Zulaykhā dreams of Yūsuf]
  • fol. 35b: [Zulaykhā confides in her nurse]
  • fol. 39a: [Zulaykhā dreams of Yūsuf a second time]
  • fol. 41a: [Zulaykhā's maids restrain her]
  • fol. 42b: [Zulaykhā, prostrate with grief, calls out to her beloved]
  • fol. 43b: [Zulaykhā dreams of Yūsuf a third time]
  • fol. 46a: [Messengers from various kings bring marriage proposals for Zulaykhā]
  • fol. 52a: [Zulaykhā rides to Egypt in her palanquin]
  • fol. 54a: [The Grand Vizier reaches Zulaykhā's encampment].
  • Fol. 55b: [Zulaykhā catches a glimpse of her future husband]
  • fol. 65a: [Yaʻqūb watches over Yūsuf while he sleeps]
  • fol. 67a: [Yūsuf's brothers plot against him]
  • fol. 69a: [The brothers ask to take Yūsuf out]
  • fol. 71a: [The brothers torture Yūsuf while they walk]
  • fol. 73b: [Yūsuf in the well is visited by the angel Gabriel]
  • fol. 75a: [Yūsuf is pulled out of the well]
  • 77a: [Yūsuf meets the Vizier]
  • fol. 78b: [Yūsuf washes himself in the river]
  • 80b: [Zulaykhā sees Yūsuf at the market]
  • fol. 82b: [Buyers bid for Yūsuf]
  • fol. 86a: [Yūsuf and Zulaykhā converse]
  • fol. 89b: [Zulaykhā combs Yūsuf's hair]
  • fol. 92a: [Yūsuf tells Zulaykhā about his past tribulations]
  • fol. 94b: [Yūsuf tends a flock of sheep]
  • fol. 96a: [Yūsuf refuses to return Zulaykhā's gaze]
  • fol. 97b: [Zulaykhā confides in her nurse].
  • Fol. 101b: [Zulaykhā declares her love for Yūsuf]
  • fol. 106b: [Yūsuf in Zulaykhā's garden, surrounded by beautiful women]
  • fol. 112a: [Zulaykhā's new palace]
  • fol. 115a: [Yūsuf and Zulaykhā in the seventh chamber]
  • fol. 117b: [Zulaykhā pleads with Yūsuf in the seventh chamber]
  • fol. 121b: [Yūsuf prevents Zulaykhā from killing herself]
  • fol. 124a: [Zulaykhā makes false accusations regarding Yūsuf]
  • fol. 127b: [An infant counsels the Vizier not to condemn Yūsuf]
  • fol. 132b: [Yūsuf presented at Zulaykhā's banquet]
  • fol. 136b: [The women at the banquet try to persuade Yūsuf to accede to Zulaykhā's demands]
  • fol. 140a: [Yūsuf in prison]
  • fol. 142a: [Zulaykhā tells her nurse about her grief]
  • fol. 146b: [Zulaykhā visits the prison at night]
  • fol. 149a: [By day Zulaykhā gazes at the prison from the roof of her palace]
  • fol. 150b: [Zulaykhā is bled]
  • fol. 142a: [Yūsuf interprets the dreams of two courtiers in prison].
  • Fol. 156a: [Zulaykhā and the ladies from her banquet verify Yūsuf's innocence to the king]
  • fol. 158a: [Yūsuf advises the king]
  • fol. 161a: [Zulaykhā after the death of the Vizier]
  • fol. 164a: [Zulaykhā in her reed hut waiting for Yūsuf to pass by]
  • fol. 171a: [Zulaykhā in her reed hut waiting for Yūsuf to pass by]
  • fol. 173a: [Zulaykhā pours out her grief on her idol]
  • fol. 179b: [Zulaykhā calls out to God as Yūsuf rides by]
  • fol. 181a: [Zulaykhā brought before Yūsuf the Vizier]
  • fol. 182b: [Zulaykhā regains her youth]
  • fol. 185a: [Marriage of Yūsuf and Zulaykhā]
  • fol. 188a: [Yūsuf tears Zulaykhā's dress]
  • fol. 189a: [Zulyakhā and Yūsuf in her golden pavilion]
  • fol. 190b: [Yūsuf dreams of his parents]
  • fol. fol. 193a: [Gabriel presents Yūsuf with a heavenly apple]
  • fol. 194a: [Zulaykhā swoons upon hearing of Yūsuf's death]
  • fol. 195b: [Zulaykhā bends to the earth in grief]
  • fol. 196b: [Zulaykhā tears out her eyes in grief]
  • fol. 197b: [Zulaykhā's funeral]
  • fol. 202b: [The author gives his advice].
Description:
  • Ms. codex.
  • Title supplied by cataloger.
  • Layout: 12 lines per page in two columns ; frame-ruled in blue, red, gold and green with marginal gold border ; columns are gold-sprinkled and separated by double gold lines.
  • Description: Written in medium, elegant nastaʻliq in black on beige glazed, laid Arabic paper. Catchwords; headings in red. Interleaves bound next to some of the folios with miniatures. Some smudging and staining; miniatures on fol. 80b, 156a, 164a are slightly smudged. A few marginal paper repairs; last leaf containing last three verses missing. Otherwise in good condition.
  • Decoration: On fol. 1b-2a, illuminated two-page ʻunwān in gold and colors, containing first thirteen verses and first heading. Illustrated with 69 miniatures of above-average quality.
  • Origin: According to Moghadam, the ms. is Indian and dates to the late 18th century, while the miniatures are from the late 19th century.
Binding note:
  • Lacquered binding painted with elegant pattern of flowers; laquered doublures painted with a flowering plant surrounded by a floral pattern similar to the front cover. First and last flyleaves have been pasted to dark red paper printed with a gold floral pattern.
Provenance:
  • Ex libris of Robert Garrett on fol. ia.
Edm rights:
  • Copyright Not Evaluated
View in catalog:
Curator's notes:

  • Jāmī جامى (circa 1414–1492)

    Persian, in Nastaʿlīq script
    India, between 1775–1779, paper

    A Persian contribution to bookbinding is lacquered bindings. First developed in the 15th century, they became increasingly popular in the 18th–19th centuries. Covers were prepared with gesso, painted with flora or fauna, and then varnished in several layers. With the spread of Persianate culture the practice also reached India, as seen here in a version of the love story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. The binding may slightly postdate the text. Please look online for the beautiful text and illustrations inside.

    Gift of Robert Garrett, Class of 1897, 1942
    Garrett no. 71G

    For further reading

    Duda, Dorothea. “Islamische Lackeinbände: ihre künstlerische Entwicklung und ihr Verhältnis zum Buch als Gesamtkunstwerk.” Journal of Turkish Studies 26, no. 1 (2002): 163-203.

Exhibit category:
Genre:
  • Poetry
  • Poetry.
  • Poésie.
  • illuminated manuscripts
  • headpieces (layout features)
  • illuminations (paintings)
  • Sprinkled papers
  • Lacquered bindings
  • Lacquered doublures
  • manuscripts (documents)