Skip Navigation

Sample of Persian Calligraphy from a Mughal Album

Asian Art

Set against a gilded background, two couplets of romantic poetry appear in the elegant nastaʿlīq script. The face of the beloved, considered the reflection of divine love, is fittingly compared to a bright moon and admired for its beauty: “Your face is flushed [and] has become [like] a bright moon; you have exalted your stature [and] have become the envy of the [tall] cypress.” A signature identifying “the lowly scribe, ʿAli” may refer to the talented sixteenth-century calligrapher Mir ʿAli al-Husayni al-Katib al-Haravi, also known as Mir ʿAli. The calligraphy was mounted on a seventeenth-century Indian album page decorated with flora and fauna in a Europeanizing style typical of the Mughal artistic tradition. It is possible that the folio, like the page with a portrait of the Sufi Shaykh Chishti displayed nearby, once belonged to the Shah Jahan Album.
CALLIGRAPHER Ali Haravi
MEDIUM Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS
DATES 16th century; margins 17th century
DYNASTY Mughal
PERIOD Mughal
DIMENSIONS image: 7 13/16 x 3 14/16 in. (19.8 x 9.7 cm) sheet: 14 7/16 x 10 in. (36.7 x 25.4 cm) mat: 16 x 22 in. (40.6 x 55.9 cm)  (show scale)
SIGNATURE 'Ali (possibly Mir 'Ali, d. 1544)
INSCRIPTIONS In Persian, Your face is flushed [and] has become [like] a bright moon You have exalted your stature [and] have become the envy of the [tall] cypress; The beauty of your face increases day by day; Although you were beautiful yesterday, you are more beautiful today. Translated by Dr. Layla S. Diba and Dr. Ehsan Yarshater
COLLECTIONS Asian Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 1991.185
CREDIT LINE Purchased with funds given by anonymous donors and Helen Babbott Sanders Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Ali Haravi. Sample of Persian Calligraphy from a Mughal Album, 16th century; margins 17th century. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper, image: 7 13/16 x 3 14/16 in. (19.8 x 9.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by anonymous donors and Helen Babbott Sanders Fund, 1991.185 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1991.185_IMLS_SL2.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 1991.185_IMLS_SL2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions
This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.