Torch stand (mash`al)

Torch stands, which held oil and a wick rather than a candle, were a popular form of lighting in the Safavid era. The following poem, by a Khorasani poet named Mulla Heyrati Tuni, is inscribed in nastaliq script in two bands near the top and bottom of this piece:
Sometimes my soul burns with love for the beautiful ones, sometimes my heart bleeds.
Every moment passion burns me with a new brand.
Like a moth, I seek the candle.
If I advance, I burn my wing.
Be on guard, the smoke of the burning heart.
At times the fire of my heart burns both world and heaven.
Like the candle, all night the wick of my soul burns.
At times, I draw a single sigh and both worlds burn.

(Notes from Glory and Prosperity exhibition, Feb - June 2002.)