1588
The recto and verso side of the folio features two columns of Persian text written in black ink and nasta’liq script. The verso side has a separate text block at the bottom of the two columns that contains Persian text written in black ink and nasta’liq script. The recto side contains part of a qasida (a panegyric in praise of a king or nobleman) that praises Khwaja Mansur and a description of the Mansuriyya palace and garden, as well as a praise poem for the grand vizier, Nasiruddin Tahir: How incredible [you are], you garden and you palace of Mansur! Perhaps you are a heaven sent by God into the world? Even if you are not paradise – you are surely not of this world, For this world makes life diminish, And you make sweet life increase … The folio belongs to an illustrated copy of the Divan of Anvari commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) in 1588 and in Lahore. The poet Anvari (1126-1189) is considered one of the greatest figures in Persian literature. His panegyric in honor of the Seljuq sultan, Ahmad Sanjar (r. 1118-1157) earned him royal favor and the patronage from two of Sanjar’s successors. Anvari’s poems were collected in a Divan, which contains eulogies, satire, panegyrics, and other forms of poetry and prose.