Colophon

Description This folio from Walters manuscript W.624 contains a colophon that gives the name of the calligrapher as Muhammad Husayn Zarrin Qalam and the date 142, which is difficult to interpret. Seyller and Brend read it as dated 42 and thus interpret it as the 42nd year of Emperor Akbar's reign, i.e. AD March 1597-March 1598. According to Seyller the vertical stroke that precedes the 42 should be regarded as an extended dot over the nun in the word sana (year). According to Brend the vertical stroke should be read as an alif for ilahi.

Provenance Muhammad Zaki, 1241 AH/AD 1825-1826 [mode of acquisition unknown] [oval seal, fols. 1a, 211a]; 'abd al-raji Muhammad Shafi', 1247 AH/AD 1831-1832 [mode of acquisition unknown] [rectangular seal fols. 1a, 211a]; Muhammad 'Ali [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [large oval seal with no date on fol. 211a]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Transliteration] al-'abd al-faqīr al-haqīr /1/ Muhammad Husayn Zarrīn Qalam fī tarīkh sanat 142 [sic] /2/ bi-itmām rasīd /3/

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters