Description
Walters manuscript W.617, an illuminated and illustrated Safavid copy of the collected works (Kulliyat-i Sa'di) of Sa`di (died 691 AH/AD 1292) contains, among other works, the Gulistan and the Bustan. It was written in black Nasta'liq script and, according to the Arabic colophon, was completed in Shiraz (Iran) on the 1st Rabi' I 934 AH/AD 1527. The poet's name, given as Muslih-i Din Shaykh Sa'di, is inscribed in the illuminated headpiece on fol. 3b. The codex opens with two illuminated medallions inscribed with the book's contents (fols. 1b-2a), followed by a double-page illustrated frontispiece (fols. 2b-3a). The text begins with a double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 3b-4a). There are 10 illustrations in total. The binding is not original to the manuscript.
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