Five Poems (Quintet)

Walters manuscript W.624 is a deluxe copy of the Khamsah (quintet) of Amir Khusraw Dihlavi (died 725 AH / 1325). The manuscript was written in Nasta'liq script by one of the greatest calligraphers of the Mughal atelier, Muhammad Husayn al-Kashmiri, honored with the epithet Zarrin Qalam (golden pen). This copy of Dihlavi's Khamsah, likely produced in Lahore (present-day Pakistan) in the late10th century AH/16th, is associated with the patronage of Akbar (reigned 963-1014 AH/AD 1556-1605). The manuscript bears the names of a number of painters and illuminators. The illustrations bear ascriptions to the following artists: La'l (Lal), Manuhar, Sanwalah, Farrukh, Aliquli, Dharamdas, Narsing, Jagannath, Miskina, Mukund, and Surdas Gujarati. The illuminators are Husayn Naqqash, Mansur Naqqash, Khvajah Jan Shirazi, and Lu?f Allah Muzahhib. The borders are all elaborately illuminated with animal, bird, and geometric motifs, as well as human figures engaged in such activities as hunting, praying, and reading. The lacquer binding, decorated with pictorial scenes, is contemporary with the manuscript. Eight leaves from this copy of the Khamsah of Dihlavi are housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (13.228.26-33).