Seven Couples in a Garden (from the Quintet of Nava'i)

The earliest illustrated Islamic manuscript in the Royal Collection. The author, Nizam al-Din Ali Shir (1441-1501), also known by his penname Nava'i meaning 'melody maker', is considered ‘the Chaucer of the Turks'. This manuscript containing the author's work was written in Herat during his lifetime by the celebrated calligrapher Sultan Ali Mashhadi (1453-1520). The paintings are all found within 30 pages of each other. The original manuscript may have been left incomplete and the paintings added to it later.