An illuminated manuscript consisting of a prose version of the Khavaran-nameh, stories relating to Imam 'Ali, ascribed to 'Imad al-Hasani in the colophon written by the Qajar calligrapher 'Abd al-Ghaffar Tabrizi

Persia, the text 17th Century, the margins and last page mid-19th Century

Footnotes

Provenance
A London collector (d. 2006), acquired in the London art market in the mid-1980s-90s; and by descent.


The Khavaran-nameh is a 15th Century text in verse form, of which our manuscript is a Persian prose translation. The section here relates to the giant Salsal.

There are known to be a number of Persian prose versions of the Khavaran-nameh, designed to be told as stories, and known as Khavar-nameh, with no authors' names given or any details of the translations.

The text includes events and battles between Imam 'Ali and Muslims against Salasil ibn Dalkah, the leader of those rebelling against the Muslims. The text includes verses from the original Khavaran-nameh, with the heading 'From his author'. There are many headings, mostly in red. Some of these include:

The battles between Imam 'Ali and Salasil; 'Umar and Umayyah go to fight Salasil and are caught; Imam 'Ali capturing the city of Salasil; the battle of Sa'd Waqqas with the wife of Salasil and his capture; Salasil's son coming to help their father; battle of the Muslim army with Salasil; Imam 'Ali going to the city of Zarrin; Salasil hears of the Muslim army going to the city of Zarrin; Imam 'Ali has a dream of the Prophet; his battles in three stages; 'Umar and Umayyah make Salasil blind; Imam 'Ali reaches the city of Zarrin; Salasi retreating; battles of the Imam with the Persian ruler Tahmasp and Jamshid; their conversion to Islam.

The last page, which has been added, bears a colophon reading:
'These folios that contain sixty-seven folios and one page is by the master of scribes, 'Imad al-Hasani [...] and this page is by the smallest servant of God, 'Abd al-Ghaffar Tabrizi, who wrote it as a memento, with much destitution, before the hand of the master'.

'Abd al-Ghaffar Tabrizi was a calligrapher of the Nasir al-Din Shah period, whose recorded work is dated between AH 1263/AD 1846-47 and AH 1270/AD 1853-54. See Mehdi Bayani, ahval va asar-e khosh-navisan, vol. 2, Tehran 1346sh, p. 405.

'Imad al-Hasani, known as Mir 'Imad (murdered in 1615), is considered one of the most celebrated nasta'liq calligraphers. His recorded works are dated between AH 972/AD 1564-65 and the year of his murder in AH 1024/AD 1615. See Mehdi Bayani, ahval va asar-e khosh-nevisan, vol. II Tehran, 1346 sh., pp. 518-38; also www.iranicaonline.org/articles/emad-hasani-mir; and M. A. Karimzadeh Tabrizi, The Life and Art of Mir Imad al-Hasani, London 2001.

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