Imad al-Hasani manuscripttext per Persian quatrain on true knowledge written in black Nasta'liq script by the calligrapher (Mir) 'Imad al-Hasani in the 17th Cent. Below the quatrain, the calligrapher (Mir) 'Imad al-Hasani has signed his work with his name and a number of diminutives, as well as a request for God's forgiveness. Mir 'Imad (d. 1615) was born in 1552, 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 nasta'liq script, whose works were admired and copied by his contemporaries, and later collected by the Mughals (Welch et al 1987: 32-36). Dar khakh-i Baylaqan rasidam bi-'abidi / Guftam mara bi-tarbiyat az jahl pak kun / Gufta buru chu khak tahammul kun ay faqih / Ya har cha khanda hama dar zir-i khak kun Dimensions of Written Surface: 8.5 (w) x 15.7 (h) cm I arrived at a worshipper's in the area of Baylaqan. / I said: "With tutoring purify me from ignorance." / He said: "Oh, Thoughtful One, go, because, like the earth, you can withstand all, / Or bury everything that you have read under the soil." Many works in international collections are signed by him (inter alia, Safwat 1996, cat. nos. 53 and 62; and Lowry and Beach 1988: no. 456), although whether all these pieces are by his hand remains uncertain. Other calligraphies bearing his name in the collections of the Library of Congress include: 1-84-154.3, 1-84-154.43, 1-85-154.72, 1-85-154.77, 1-87-154.160, and 1-99-106.13 R. These verses show how the poet sought out spiritual teaching or tutoring (tarbiyat) from a wise man, who responded that learned knowledge is discardable. Baylaqan was a city in the province of Azarbaijan known for its purifying waters. This calligraphic fragment provides an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, written in black nasta'liq script. The text is outlined in cloud bands filled with blue and placed on a gold background. In the upper right corner, a gold decorative motif fills in the triangular space otherwise left empty by the intersection of the rectangular frame and the diagonal lines of text. The verses read: Calligraphy, Arabic. Calligraphy, Persian. Manuscripts, Persian--Washington (D.C.) Arabic script calligraphy Illuminated Islamic manuscripts Islamic calligraphy Islamic manuscripts Nasta'liq Poetry Iran Afghanistan India https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.236