This calligraphic panel is executed in black (Indian) naskh on a pink paper decorated with gold cloud motifs and pasted to a light blue backing. The poem wishes a ruler (nicknamed the “Star of the Constellation of Destiny”) everlasting good fortune and the fulfillment of promises on the occasion of New Year’s (Noruz).Calligrapher: Muhammad Bakhsh. India. 1796-1797 A.D. 10.2 x 18.2 cm. Naskh script. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division.

This calligraphic fragment includes verses composed by the famous Persian poet Jami (d. 898/1492). The verses are executed in black nasta’liq script on a beige paper.Calligrapher: Hajji Yadigar al-Katib. 1600-1650 A.D. 10.1 x 18.9 cm. Nasta’liq script. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division.

This rock crystal seal of Shah Tahmasp bears the names of Allah, Muhammad and ‘Ali, reading clockwise, and the date 963 AH at the bottom.

With the Arabic language forming a common bond among Islamic cultures, Arabic script became the principal element on gold coins like these, which represented the authority of the Islamic dynasties. Upon ascending to the throne, each ruler affirmed his new power and status by having a coin struck in his name. In addition to the king’s name, these coins also carry the profession of faith: “There is no God but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God.”India. 1563 A.D. 2.7 x 2.7 x 0.1 cm. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

This piece is a folio from a Koran written in bihari script, in alternate lines of gold, black, and red (sura 18:57-71). Calligrapher: unknown. India. Late 15th century. 36.9 x 28 cm. Bihari script. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Calligrapher: unknown. India. 19th century. 26.7 x 17.8 cm. Naskh script. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Calligrapher: unknown. Iran. 1575-1600 A.D. 35.8 x 24 cm. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Calligrapher: Mir ‘Ali. Iran. 1577-1578 A.D. 33.1 x 21 x 2.1 cm. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Calligrapher: unknown. Iran. 19th century (?). 29.7 x 20.1 cm. Shikaste script. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi is one of the most influential and well-known poets of the Islamic world, whose work has also received considerable attention in the West. His monumental Mathnavi (a long poem made up of rhyming couplets) comprises some twenty-six thousand verses and is divided into six books. A masterful synthesis of mystically inspired ideas and Persian, Arabic, Indian, and Greek myths, as well as religious stories and folktales, the Mathnavi is particularly celebrated for its rich, metaphorical language and brilliant allegories. Perhaps because of its literary complexity and profusion of abstract ideas, Rumi’s works are rarely illustrated.

Calligrapher: Sultan Mahmud and Sultan Muhammad Nur. India and Iran. 16th century. 47.1 x 32 cm. Nasta’liq script. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Calligrapher: Sultan Mahmud, Shaykh Muhammad and Ahmad al-Husyni al-Mashadi. Iran. 16th century. 47.3 x 32.2 cm. Nasta’liq script. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Calligrapher: unknown. Iran. 16th-17th centuries. 47.5 x 32.4 cm. Nasta’liq script. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Calligrapher: Muhammad Husayn al-Tabrizi. Iran. 16th century (?). 335.8 x 23.6 cm. Nasta’liq script. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

alligrapher: unknown. Iran. 16th-17th centuries. 33.5 x 21.7 cm. Nasta’liq script. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

The two couplets by the celebrated poet and mystic Jami (died 1492) are characteristic of the type of lyrical poetry frequently paired with album-page paintings.Calligrapher: unknown. Iran. 1541-1542 A.D. 32.3 x 20.7 cm. Nasta’liq script. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

This piece features the following inscription (on the rug): “Rely not upon the place of great men unless you have prepared the quality of greatness in yourself.”alligrapher: Mir Sayyid Ali. Iran. 1540 A.D. 37.2 x 23.9 cm. Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

The illumination of the opening spread is in the Timurid Herati style of the late 15th century. The top and bottom darker headings are in the muhaqqaq script, and the middle darker heading is in the thuluth script.erat or Tabriz, Iran. 1525-1550 A.D. Muhaqqaq, Thuluth and Naskh scripts. 36 x 24.5 cm. Courtesy of the Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art.

The illumination of the opening spread is in the Timurid Herati style of the late 15th century.Herat or Tabriz, Iran. 1525-1550 A.D. Thuluth and Naskh scripts. 36 x 24.5 cm. Courtesy of the Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art.

This splendidly-illuminated folio from the Koran has three lines of Muhaqqaq and 12 lines of naskh per page. The original work was most likely re-done in Mughal India under Shah Jahan.

This splendidly-illuminated folio from the Koran has three lines of Muhaqqaq and 12 lines of naskh per page. The original work was most likely re-done in Mughal India under Shah Jahan.

This piece of white crystalline marble is carved on both sides in Koranic verses, and was most likely used as a tombstone.India. Late 17th century. 181 x 55 x 4 cm. Courtesy of the Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art.

The calligraphic panels are arranged in matching pairs with identical illumination, mounted on double-page spreads. The work in this album was done by Indian scribes active during the reign of the Mughal emperor Awrangzeb.

The calligraphic panels are arranged in matching pairs with identical illumination, mounted on double-page spreads. The work in this album was done by Indian scribes active during the reign of the Mughal emperor Awrangzeb.

This elegant volume was copied by the princess Umm Salamah, a daughter of Fath’ali Shah Qajar, for her nephew, Prince Muhammad Husayn Mirza. The prayers are copied in naskh script in lines of variously colored inks. Umm Salamah, who was a fine calligrapher, was the fourth daughter of the shah.

This page once formed part of an album assembled for Nur al-Din Jahangir (ruled 1605-1627), the fourth Mughal ruler of India. The borders, which depict artisans of a library at work, were painted at the beginning of the 17th century. Beginning at the upper-right and moving counterclockwise, the borders show a burnisher smoothing and polishing paper, a stamper creating designs in a leather cover, a sizer trimming the leaves of a manuscript, a woodworker sawing a bookstand, a gilder preparing gold leaf, and a calligrapher writing.

This page once formed part of an album assembled for Nur al-Din Jahangir (ruled 1605-1627), the fourth Mughal ruler of India. The borders, which depict artisans of a library at work, were painted at the beginning of the 17th century. Beginning at the upper-right and moving counterclockwise, the borders show a burnisher smoothing and polishing paper, a stamper creating designs in a leather cover, a sizer trimming the leaves of a manuscript, a woodworker sawing a bookstand, a gilder preparing gold leaf, and a calligrapher writing.

Mir Ali, also known as Mir Ali al-Husayni, was one of the Mughal’s favorite calligraphers, and they continuously sought examples of his writing. This page comes from an album known as the Kevorkian album, named after the dealer responsible for its dispersal during the second quarter of the 20th century. The album appears to have been assembled for the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (ruled 1628-1657).

Calligrapher: unknown. India. 1620 A.D. Nasta’liq script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Calligrapher: unknown. India. 17th century. 37.1 x 23 cm. Nasta’liq script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Calligrapher: unknown. India. 17th century. 23.6 x 7 cm. Nasta’liq script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

This manuscript page features nasta’liq writing within marbled clouds upon an illuminated background.

This manuscript page features nasta’liq writing within marbled clouds upon an illuminated background.

The inscription on this brightly-colored ornament is the bismillah, a pious invocation meaning, “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.”

A celebrated sixteenth-century calligrapher, Kamal al-Din was also known as Ayn al-Din “the one-eyed” and reportedly excelled in the nasta’liq script. This text, beseeching God for his help and mercy, is written in a variation of the nasta’liq style, known as ta’liq script. It is notable for its looping connections, staggered placement of letters and words, as well as its densely packed appearance, which is accentuated here by the curved alignment of the text. Unlike most other calligraphic styles that are adapted to a variety of media, the ta’liq script was reserved for works on paper.

This large-scale illuminated calligraphic piece in square format appears to have been executed in Iran during the 19th century. It includes a number of details typical of Shi’i popular and devotional materials produced during the later part of the Qajar period (1785-1925). In all likelihood, it functioned as a talismanic object for an Iranian Shi’i patron.

This calligraphic fragment includes, in the main text panel, four verses from Sa’di’s “Bustan” (The Fruit Orchard), in which he succinctly describes the tragic story of two lovers who fall into a whirlpool in the sea. When a sailor attempts to save them, each lover asks him to save the other—as he turns to each one, it becomes too late and both die.

This superb document consists of a legally-binding marriage contract written in Persia (Iran) in 1804-1805. Like other Persian marriage contracts of the 19th century, the document is quite imposing (at almost a meter in height) and its goldwork indicative of the couple’s wealth.

This poetic eulogy to a king encourages him to defeat his enemy thanks to the support of his faithful retinue, good fortune. It also advises him to be aware and serve his people (“those with conscious hearts”). It includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba’i, written diagonally in black nasta’liq script outlined in cloud bands on a gold background.

This calligraphic panel includes a single line of Arabic text executed in black thuluth script. A simple prayer towards God, it reads:

The chapter headings executed in thuluth script in white ink on a gold and blue ground decorated with flower vines, as well as the marginal ornaments, are typical of Korans produced in Safavid Iran during the 16th century.

This calligraphic piece includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba’i, composed by the Persian poet Rumi (d. 672/1273). It is written diagonally in black nasta’liq script on a white-and-blue marbled paper.

The script used in this piece — a fluid tahriri found in 18th and 19th-century calligraphies from India — suggests an Indian origin.

This calligraphic fragment includes three iambic pentameter quatrains, or ruba’is, arranged in corresponding vertical and horizontal panels. The verses are executed in black nasta’liq script.

The text is executed in black ta’liq typical of the 18th and 19th centuries, while the theme of its text suggests an Indian Shi’i milieu. Written diagonally on a cream-colored paper, the text panel is framed by a dark green border outlined in red and mounted to a cardboard for strengthening.

This calligraphic fragment includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba’i, in honor of a king.

This calligraphic fragment includes verses composed by the famous Persian poet Jami (d. 898/1492). The verses are executed in black nasta’liq script on a beige paper.

This calligraphic practice sheet includes a number of diagonal words and letters used in combinations facing upwards and downwards on the folio. These sheets — known as siyah mashq (lit. black practice) in Persian — were entirely covered with writing as a means to practice calligraphy and conserve paper.

This calligraphic fragment includes three bayts (verses) of poetry that use the tragic love story of Laylah and Majnun to describe the magic and pain of love.

The panel executed in white ink on the top left of this piece is signed in the lower left corner by the calligrapher Mir ‘Ali. This famous Persian calligrapher, whose full name was Mir ‘Ali Heravi, was active in the city of Herat (modern-day Afghanistan) during the 16th century until he was taken to Bukhara (modern-day Uzbekistan) in 935/1528-9 by the Shaybanid ruler ‘Ubaydallah Khan Uzbek.

This folio includes ten lines of poetry from a divan (compendium of poems) written in Chagatay Turkish by the last Timurid ruler, Sultan Husayn Mirza (1438-1506). It is executed in nasta’liq script through a process of découpage.

This calligraphic panel includes a number of verses describing the transience of worldly goods. Two lines of Arabic poetry appear in the upper horizontal panels, and two lines of Persian poetry frame the central text panel on the right and left.

This painting represents an episode drawn from Nizami’s “Haft Paykar” (The Seven Thrones), the fourth book of his “Khamsah” (Quintet). The great Sasanian king Bahram Gur (r. 430-38), famous for his hunting powers and thus nicknamed “wild ass” (Bahram Gur), astonishes his companions with his quasi-divine prowess at hunting onagers.

This calligraphic panel executed in black nasta’liq script on a ground decorated with flowers describes the subterfuges of the beloved. A number of letters and words are repeated in this calligraphic panel, so as to create a playful composition that fills up the entirety of the text panel. The calligrapher can be identified as Mir ‘Imad al-Hasani (d. 1615).

This fragmentary calligraphic panel includes a verse from the Koran and praises to God executed in thuluth, Persian naskh, and tawqi’ scripts. The blue and white marble paper is typical of calligraphic panels produced in 18th century Iran and Turkey. Marbled paper (ebru in Turkish, or kaghaz-i abri in Persian) appears to date as far back as the 16th century, although its use in calligraphic panels truly blooms during the 18th and 19th centuries.

This calligraphic fragment includes two bayts (verses) wishing its owner prosperity and happiness on the occasion of an Eid.

The text of this piece is written in black nasta’liq on a beige paper framed by light brown border cut out and pasted to a larger sheet of paper backed by cardboard.

This calligraphic panel executed in black and red on a white ground decorated in gold contains a number of prayers directed to God, the Prophet Muhammad, and his son-in-law ‘Ali. The letters of the larger words are executed in nasta’liq script and filled with various decorative motifs, animals, and human figures. The human figures standing side-by-side in the central horizontal letter represent the eleven Shi’i imams and (a kneeling) Imam ‘Ali, holding his double-edged sword Dhu al-Fiqar.

This fragment probably formed part of a collection of literary compositions showing how to write appropriate praises to a ruler. A number of pieces like this appear to have been executed in ta’liq script in India during the 17th and 18th centuries.

This calligraphic panel, or levha, reads: “Oh ‘Ali, my spirit is sacrified for you” (Ya ‘Ali, ruhi fadakah). The letters are arranged artistically to fill the calligraphic panel, making the reading of the phrase quite difficult. Diacritics (vocalization signs) also fill in the composition’s empty spaces. Although meaning is secondary to form, this vocative phrase calling for loyalty to ‘Ali underscores the Shi’i message of the panel.

Shaykh Sa’di (d. 691/1292) composed his famous “Gulistan” (The Rose Garden) in 654/1256. His work includes eight chapters, an introduction and a conclusion. Each chapter narrates a number of stories, maxims and admonitions. This fragment is the first page of the Gulistan’s introduction, initiated at the top by a bismillah and followed by Sa’di’s praise of God.

This illuminated frontispiece is one of two pages that would have formed the opening double-page composition of a manuscript. It is possible that it belonged to a Koran.

This large piece of paper, constructed of a number of separate sheets pasted together, includes four lines of calligraphy in nasta’liq script. These lines specify that a certain Muhammad ‘Ali ordered the construction of a building intended for the commemorations (dhikr) services and mourning (matam) ceremonies of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn. Such a building is called a takiyah or takiyah-khanah, and was used for the staging of Shi’i passion plays (ta’ziyah) reenacting the tragic events at Karbalah in 680.

This fragment contains what would have been the first page of an album of calligraphic alphabetical (mufraddat) exercises. The letters are written in a black nasta’liq script on a beige paper and surrounded by cloud bands executed in light blue and white ink.

This particular calligraphic fragment creates an illuminated carpet page, which combines letter (mufraddat) exercises on three horizontal lines and Persian poetical excerpts written in diagonal between colored triangular corners (called “thumb pieces”).

This frontispiece may have belonged to a Persian manuscript made in the 16th or 17th century.

The text of this page is executed in black nasta’liq script on a blue piece of paper sprinkled with gold flecks. Every verse is framed by a gold line and separated by a gutter or border illuminated with panels in gold, pink, and orange hues. The whole of the text panel is pasted onto a larger orange sheet of paper backed by cardboard.

This calligraphic fragment includes verses composed by Shaykh Baha’i, a Persian mystical poet of the 11th century. The poem describes the many ways in which to express one’s love of God.

Mir ‘Imad (d. 1615) was born in 1554, spent time in Herat and Qazvin, and finally settled in Isfahan (then capital of Safavid Persia), where, as a result of his implication in court intrigues, he was murdered in 1615. He was a master of the nasta’liq script, whose works were admired and copied by his contemporaries, and later collected by the Mughals.

These verses are written in nasta’liq script using white, light blue, red, and yellow ink on a blue paper. Colored inks add variety to the composition and are found in a number of calligraphies produced during the 16th century.

This calligraphic fragment comprises a sample of how to write a letter to a friend. Written in a fluid shikaste in black ink, the text is outlined in cloud bands and placed on a background painted in gold.

This particular Koran includes translation in Persian written in complete sentences in red ink in between each verse of the Arabic original. In all likelihood, it was produced in Iran during the early years of Qajar rule (1785-1925).

This calligraphic fragment includes a number of poetical verses written diagonally, horizontally, and vertically in separate panels of beige and gold paper.

This calligraphic fragment is unique in the collections of the Library of Congress, as it uses no ink at all. Instead, the text is executed in a style known as “fingernail calligraphy” (khatt-i nakhani), in which either a nail or a metal stylus is used to create topographical impressions on a monochromatic (usually white) sheet of paper. Possibly linked to the rise of lithography and the printing press, this Qajar practice discards the traditional tools of the reed pen and ink in favor of a more abstract and experimental approach towards calligraphy.

This calligraphic fragment is executed in fine shikaste (literally, “broken”) script and includes an initial bismillah and chapters (surahs) 1 and 114 of the Koran. It is quite unusual to find Koranic verses executed in shikaste script. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Korans were written in naskh or nasta’liq, as these scripts were more legible than shikaste. For this reason, this particular fragment stands out as scarce proof that some Koranic verses were executed in shikaste in Iran during the 18th-19th centuries.

This calligraphic practice sheet includes a number of diagonal words and letters written in the common Persian script nasta’liq. Letters are used in combinations, facing upwards and downwards on the folio.

This single sheet of a Fal-i Koran (divination by the Koran) lays out in rhyming Persian couplets the means of divination by letters selected at random when opening to a page of the Koran. This now single-page folio originally was included at the very end of a Safavid Persian Koran.

This fragment probably formed part of a collection of literary compositions showing how to write appropriate praises and petitions to a ruler. The composition is executed in black Indian ta’liq script framed by cloud bands on a beige paper.

This calligraphic fragment includes an exercise in nasta’liq script that consists in combining letters (mufraddat) in various formations. This particular fragment bears witness to the practice of mufraddat exercises in nasta’liq script that seems to have existed among calligraphers active in 18th-century India.

The fragment is written in a script known as bihari, a variant of naskh typical of northern India after Timur’s conquest and prior to the establishment of the Mughal Dynasty (1400-1525 A.D.).

The verso of this folio completes the first four folios of Nizami’s “Iqbalnamah” (The Book of Progress), the second of two sections in the author’s last book (kitab) of his “Khamsah” (Quintet).

The inscription is executed in a number of different scripts, which are labeled by small notes in black ink immediately above or below the word to which they correspond. For example, the terms Khan Bahadur are written in rayhani script (khatt-i rayhan), ‘Ayn al-Din in ghubar (dust) script (khatt-i ghubar), Sahib in afshan (gold sprinkling) script (khatt-i afshan), Madar al-Mahamm in gulzar (flower garden) script (khatt-i gulzar), and Riyasat Ditya Dama Iqbaluhu in mahi (fish) script (khatt-i mahi). The sheer variety of scripts, some of which include flower and fish motifs, reveals the calligrapher’s mastery of the art.

This calligraphic panel includes three iambic pentameter quatrains, or ruba’is, on beige or blue papers cut out and pasted onto a sheet from an album (muraqqa’) of calligraphies.

This calligraphic fragment includes four verses of poetry in Persian describing the simple mark and sound of insanity (i.e., the chain). The text is written in nasta’liq script in white ink on a red ground. The verses read:

This calligraphic fragment includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba’i, on the need for endurance. The verses are written diagonally in nasta’liq script in white ink on a light brown paper.

This calligraphic fragment includes two unrelated bayts (verses) of poetry in Persian. The verses are executed in black nasta’liq script in diagonal on a beige sheet of paper. Although Sultan Hafiz Muhammad is not clearly identifiable, the calligrapher who executed this fragment was certainly a Safavid master of nasta’liq script.

This calligraphic fragment includes several verses from Nizami’s (d. 614/1218) “Divan” (Compendium of Poems). Beginning with an invocation to God, the verses then describe how certain things and people fulfill a particular role in the world.The composition, which recalls a number of Safavid calligraphic exercises (siyah mashq) in its formal make-up and calligraphic style, must have been executed during the 16th or 17th century.

This calligraphic fragment includes a central panel with an eulogistic composition (insha’) to a king written in the ta’liq script. Except for one line written in black ink, all other horizontal and diagonal lines are written in white and outlined in black ink. Above the text panel appears a bayt (verse) divided into two columns about the power of miracles (mu’jizat) composed by the great Persian poet Nizami (d. 614/1218). The bayt is written in black nasta’liq script on beige paper.

This calligraphic fragment provides Arabic blessings to a ruler on the occasion of Eid. A number of the patron’s epithets and titles are included in the text, which is executed in black naskh script on a beige paper.

This calligraphic fragment includes a number of lyrical verses, or ghazals, composed by Shaykh Sa’di (d. 691/1292). Many of these verses express the pain at separation from a friend and exhort faithfulness to one’s companions.

This text describes an episode from the “Haft Paykar” (Seven Thrones) of Nizami (d. 614/1218), the fourth book from his “Khamsah” (Quintet). In this romantic allegory of love and frustration, the Sassanian ruler Bahram Gur (r. 420-438) visits seven pavilions on each of the seven days of the week. The verses are executed in black nasta’liq script in four columns separated by gold gutters.

This calligraphic panel is written in black nasta’liq on a brown surface and framed by two borders in plain green and blue decorated with gold stars. The inscription provides an invocation of ‘Ali through his many epithets.

This calligraphic fragment includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba’i, composed by the famous Persian poet Hafiz (d. 791/1388-9). The text is executed in black nasta’liq script typical of calligraphic works produced in India during the 19th century. Drawing on the creative potential of the script, the calligrapher has chosen to superimpose certain letters in each line, thereby creating three columns of overlayed letters repeated over the four lines of text. The visual effect is balanced and artistic.

This fragment includes a poem in Arabic written in black naskh script on a beige paper.

This calligraphic fragment includes six lines of script written right-side-up and up-side-down in thuluth script. These husbandly recommendations seek to promote goodness and piety in a woman who is also a mother. The saying belongs to the broader category of advice (nasihat) in Arabic moral literature.