Perspectives on Persian Painting

Illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah

Dr Barbara Brend

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781136854187
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Theory & Criticism

This is a detailed study of the illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah, in which twenty discourses are followed by a brief parable, and four romances. Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) lived the greater part of adventurous life in Delhi; he composed in Persian, and also in Hindi. From the point of view of manuscript illustration, his most important work is his Khamsah (Quintet'). Khusrau's position as a link between cultures of Persia and India means that the early illustrated copies of the Khamsah have a particular interest. The first extant exemplar is from the Persian area in the late 14th century, but a case can be made that work was probably illustrated earlier in India.

1

THE KHAMSAH IN SUMMARY

Matla‘ al–Anvār

The invocation of God is followed by three prayers. A first eulogy of the Prophet is olio wed by a second eulogy with an evocation of the Mi‘rāj¹ (MA 1), then a third eulogy. Shaykh Nizām al–Dīn is praised (MA 2). Sultan ‘Alā’ al–Dīn Muhammad is praised (MA 3), and a second section of praise is added. The author then sets forth his intention to write a version of Niẓāmī’s five stories, but in his own manner. There follows a mystical meditation in three parts: the author, transported to the place of divine mystery, receives admonitions; the state of ecstasy in the image of a garden (MA 4); the author discovers a spiritual guide (MA 5).

First discourse: On mankind.

First story (MA 6): Mūsā (Moses) is questioned by a great man who is curious to know what occurred when he spoke with God. Mūsā replies that he was not vouchsafed a vision of the whole of existence; he did, however, experience the conviction of his own insignificance.

Second discourse: On knowledge.

Second story (MA 7): At midnight, and by the light of a lamp, a learned man is reading before a king. Both fall into a mystical sleep. A visionary figure appears and asks the learned man what trials and tribulations he experiences in his life, since he is honoured for his scholarship. The learned man assures him that his life is not free from troubles. When the king is questioned, however, he is confident that he sheds lustre upon the learned man and in return derives benefit from his work. Maxim: Khusrau, seek not security from lords, but from the learned and godly.

Third discourse: On speech.

Third story (MA 8): A wayfarer asks an old man how he walks so fast. The other replies that for years he has restrained his tongue from unprofitable speech, and in consequence his steps have been rightly guided. Maxim: Khusrau desist from babble.

Fourth discourse: On the principles of Islam.

Fourth story (MA 9): A pilgrim bound for Mecca encounters a Brahmin who is going to Somnath.² The latter is making his way with his breast to the earth, and the skin over his heart is torn. The Muslim asks why he goes in this manner. The Brahmin replies that, having set his heart upon pilgrimage, he has made his heart a foot also. Maxim: Though the Hindu may be mistaken, he serves as an exemplar. Khusrau, make a just estimation.

Fifth discourse: On adherence to the way of the Prophet, and on abstinence.

Fifth story (MA 10): An abstemious hermit, who lives apart from the world, has made his brow brown with bowing to the earth. Thus he has lived by trust in God for ninety years. A callow young man expresses himself surprised that the hermit seemingly takes wine, which is not permitted by divine law. The old man blossoms like a rose and waves his sleeves in joy. He replies that, should no-one approve him, he is simply what he appears to be. Maxim: Khusrau, be faithful and do not regard the opinion of others.

Sixth discourse: In praise of mystics.

Sixth story (MA 11): Shiblī³ invites a dervish to question him, and he is asked the meaning of abandonment. He adumbrates an answer, goes home to give away that which endangers his teaching, and returns. The other asks why Shiblī deserted him when he felt himself on the point of comprehension. Shiblī explains that it was necessary for him to go home to give away his last coin to a dervish before completing his answer. Maxim: You who have started on the way of poverty, like Khusrau, desist from begging.

Seventh discourse: On asceticism.

Seventh story (MA 12): A hermit lives an ascetic life in a cave. A courtier out hunting sees the sage, his spectral visage and bent stature; he is disturbed, and asks why and how he lives thus. The old man replies that, having knowledge of the troubles of life, he has retreated to this stony place where he lives by eating herbs. The courtier asks why he has abandoned mankind: an appeal to the king could save him from existence on a handful of herbs. The sage laughs, and asks why a man who can be content with a handful of herbs should seek servitude under a king. Maxim: Be content, lest necessity pursue you as it does Khusrau.

Eighth discourse: On mystical love.

Eighth story (MA 13): A furnace stoker looks at a king and loves him; he weeps. The king looks at the stoker and, understanding him, smiles secretly. Maxim: You who die in the flame do not boast, like Khusrau, of the love of your friend.

Ninth discourse: On friendship.

Ninth story: A great mystic who has left the world for the desert, the dust of prayer on his head and the effects of the last night’s wine within it,⁴ catches his robe on a thorn. He does not tear his robe away, but sits down upon the ground. He says: Since the thorn catches my robe it must have business with me. A year later when the thorn has withered, the sage rises and calls upon the thorn to declare which of the two has abandoned the other and which has been faithful. Since the thorn initiated the connection it should in justice let him go. Maxim: Khusrau, be known for faithfulness.

Tenth discourse: On family responsibilities.

Tenth story (MA 14): On account of an inheritance a man sheds his brother’s blood. He then presents himself at the court of the lord of the region. There he sees two young men and an executioner with a drawn sword. One youth begs to be dispatched first that his friend might live the longer, the other offers his head so that dying he might not see his friend’s death. The executioner is amazed, but the men explain that this is simple friendship. The fratricide tells the executioner to spare their lives, but to kill him since he is guilty of murder. The lord is told of the dispute. He has the two friends released and the fratricide executed. Maxim: Khusrau, do not seek enlargement from the company of merciful people.

Eleventh discourse: On generosity.

Eleventh story (MA 15): A group of pilgrims is stricken with thirst in the desert of Hijaz. Eventually they fall to the ground and in their extremity beat their hands and feet. Suddenly a camel-rider appears from the desert. Weeping from pity, he dismounts from his camel and regards them. He pours water from a vessel into a cup and offers it to one of them. This man points to his friend, saying that he is the more thirsty. The second man in his turn indicates another, and so does each in succession. When the traveller starts to take the cup round for a second time, the companions cannot answer his invitation for they are all dead. He drinks the water himself and weeps, astonished at their generosity. Maxim: You who have not their virtue, how long, like Khusrau, will you have another mode of life?

Twelfth discourse: On courage.

Twelfth story (MA 16): ‘Alī is doing battle with an infidel, and both combatants have descended from their horses. At length ‘Alī brings his man to the ground, but the latter spits in his face, and with a sudden twist escapes. ‘Alī brings the infidel down again, decapitates him, splits his chest open, and takes his head to the Prophet. The Prophet asks why ‘Alī first released the infidel and then killed him. ‘Alī replies that if he had killed the man when enraged at being spat at he would have been acting for himself, instead he restrained his anger, and killed the infidel for God in the manner of the Holy war. Maxim: The Ghāzī (warrior for Islam) fights for religion alone, Khusrau understands this though he has not experienced it.

Thirteenth discourse: On the duties of kings.

Thirteenth story: A king is out hunting; a child, the son of a widow, who has been sent out to watch the crops has fallen asleep in the warm air. Seeing him from a distance, the king takes the child for a bird and looses his arrow. He advances to find that his arrow has struck the child (MA 17). The king is dumbfounded; he chews his lip in remorse and bites his finger in amazement. The boy’s mother hears what has happened, and she hurries to the place lamenting. The king leaps down from his horse and calls for a dish and sword, and another dish full of treasure. He offers the widow his life in expiation for the deed, and gold in recompense (MA 18). Saying that the king’s death cannot bring her son back to life, and that she cannot deliberately take vengeance on the king’s accidental fault, the widow declines to exact the penalty. Maxim: Royalty must be bound by justice to achieve the renown of a Khusrau (king).

Fourteenth discourse: On dishonesty.

Fourteenth story (MA 19): A shepherd who keeps his flock in mountainous country dilutes the milk of his goats with water when he sells it. One day a flood from the mountain carries away his flock. A wise man tells him that his flock has been carried off by all the water which he has been wont to put in the milk, and the shepherd hangs his head. Maxim: Khusrau, if you seek true religion, learn from this faithless heart to be true.

Fifteenth discourse: On peaceableness.

Fifteenth story: On the borders of Chīn (China) there grows a tree whose leaves are curative for the sight and the body. This is the home-tree of an aged crow. The wind of time flings the dust of blindness into its eye, causing it to weep and complain. Its companion bird advises it to fly to its home-tree, and to seek for a leaf which it has not defiled with its droppings. This it may apply to its eyes. The crow returns to its tree, but finds every leaf is marked with its dark droppings. It reports its lack of success to its companion. The latter replies that it is time to die since it has not preserved a leaf or two against this day. Maxim: Strive to rule as a true Khusrau, there is no dishonour in replacing altercation with peace.

Sixteenth discourse: On the virtues of mankind.

Sixteenth story (MA 20): One morning the Masīḥā (Messiah) goes into the desert, and this grows green with his breath. 0 9 A person who lacks wisdom tries to quarrel with him with opprobrious words, but the Masīḥā gives him soft answers. A friend asks him why he behaves thus. The Masīḥā replies: Everyone will speak according to his nature, but I shall not be angered as he is, and he will learn from me. Maxim: Khusrau, although one of the least of mortals try to be an ‘Īsā (Jesus) of the latter day.

Seventeenth discourse: On Youth and Age.

Seventeenth story (MA 21): In the morning a young person wanders in a garden and looks at the roses. An old man is there with flowing hair and bent back, but still having an inclination to be youthful. The beauty of the young person over powers the renunciation of the sage and he addresses the object of his desire with an invitation to love, and with the reminder that roses soon wither. The other after listening to the beginning this speech, and seeing the bent back of the speaker, asks what he is looking for upon the ground. The old man, brought to a greater extremity by this, replies that he is looking for the coin of youth which cannot be found again, and that this will befall the other also. Maxim: When young accept the service of age until, like Khusrau, you too become old.

Eighteenth discourse: On fallibility.

Eighteenth story (MA 22): A mystic has not slept for forty years, keeping his eyes on the night sky, since he wishes to see the Shab-i qadr (Night of Power).⁵ One night as he lies on his pillow his swimming eyes turn to sleep, drowsiness invades his body and he slumbers. When he awakes the moment for which he has been waiting is passed. A heavenly voice tells him that what is passed will not come again, and that the watchfulness of forty years is lost. Maxim: Khusrau keep your soul awake.

Nineteenth discourse: On the vicissitudes of life.

Nineteenth story (MA 23): A hunter in rough land is thirsty and heated from the strength of the sun. The hunter’s dog catches two foxes, but the hunter, who is wearing a coat of two sheepskins, makes for a rivulet. The foxes have time to lament that their fur has been their undoing. The one says that when the hunter returns from drinking at the stream they must loose their pelts, but it is not death that he fears but separation from his companion. The other comforts him by saying that what the knife undoes the needle will join. Maxim: If you find loyalty in a person kiss his foot, as Khusrau has to many.

Twentieth discourse: Advice to his seven year old daughter, Mastūrah.

Twentieth story (MA 24): A ruler looks out from his high castle. He sees a beautiful woman below the wall, and full of excitement he sends a messenger to her. While the king waits, the woman argues with the eunuch who has been sent to her. She asks him what merit the king can see in her body, and the eunuch replies that the king has been overcome by her eyes. The woman retires and plucks out her eyes which she presents to the eunuch to give to the king. The king’s mind is filled with anguish, and he relinquishes his intention. Maxim: You, who are the eyes of Khusrau, live thus chaste.

The author has completed one work of five, and will complete the others if he lives. The book contains 3010 couplets, and was composed in two weeks in the year 698 (1298); its title is Matla‘ al-Anvār.

Shīrīn va Khusrau

The invocation of God, praise of Him, and prayer, are followed by a eulogy of the Prophet.

The descent of the Burāq to the Prophet one night and the Mi‘rāj in the heavens are evoked (SK 1). Praise of Shaykh Niẓām al-Dīn is followed by Praise of Sultan ‘Alā’ al-Dīn Muhammad (SK 2), and an address to the sultan. The author then reflects on the estimation of his work. Story: A capmaker is in the habit of taunting a shoemaker; the other tells him that a head will come to no harm without a cap, but this is not the case of a foot without a shoe – though the one may be more valued, the other is more necessary. Reflections follow on the just appraisal of things and the author’s view of his position in relation to Niẓāmī; on the nature of the world; on love. Story: King Maḥmūd is about to die; as he sits drinking a courtier asks him if there is anything he wishes, and the king replies that his desire is always for Ayāz. Ayāz is brought before the king who looks at him and immediately gives up the ghost.⁶ The author commends total commitment to love. The preface concludes with advice to the author’s ten year old son, Mas‘ūd.

The romance commences. On the death of his father, Hurmuz, Khusrau ascends the throne, and under his rule the country flourishes.⁷ The only threat comes from Bahrām Chūbīn. In the time of Hurmuz, Bahrām Chūbīn had gained control of Madā’in;⁸ sent to campaign in Chīn, he had returned in triumph and set himself up as a rival power in the land. This state of insurrection continues under Khusrau, and he is defeated by Bahrām Chūbīn. As Khusrau rides the dusty road into exile, Shāpūr his companion seeks to distract the prince with accounts of the wonders he has encountered in different parts of the world: in Chīn he has seen Artang who draws circles without the aid of a compass;⁹ in Rūm (Byzantium) he has seen workmen who could make shimmering water from crystal;¹⁰ in Karkh (Baghdad) he has seen a carpenter who could produce a ball without a lathe;¹¹ in furthest Khaṭā (Cathay) he has seen a statue worked on by three sculptors striking in turn.¹² So he talks on, but the most wonderful thing that he has seen is in Chīn, where an Arm...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of plates in colour
• List of plates in black and white
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. The Khamsah in summary
• 2. Manuscripts of western Iran prior to the death of Shāh Rukh
• 3. Sultanate manuscripts
• 4. Manuscripts in Turkmān styles
• 5. Ottoman manuscripts under Bāyezīd II
• 6. Classical and sub-classical styles of Herat
• 7. Mughal manuscripts to the period of Jahāngīr
• Afterword
• Appendix A: Subjects illustrated
• Appendix B: Manuscript cycles
• Bibliography
• Index