This volume gathers together the works of Hafiz (1325-1390), the best-known Persian classical poet. He is most famous for his ghazals, short lyric poems about love. Like sonnets, these were intended to be sung or recited with heavy intonation. Hafiz’s poetry tells of the unrequited love of a young man, which he uses as a metaphor for the path to divine love. Reflections on morality, hypocrisy and the transience of life feature throughout, often expressed through a celebration of wine and intoxication.

The first 15 folios of this manuscript contain a preface by Muhammad Gulandam, a friend of the poet who became the first collator and editor of Hafiz’s works after his death. According to the colophon, the calligrapher Shah Qasim Haravi copied this manuscript in the library of Husayn Khan Shamlu, Governor of Herat (Afghanistan) between 1598 and 1618, during the reign of his cousin Shah Abbas.

The text is written on paper which is lightly flecked with gold, and painted with floral and animal designs in gold. These pages are inserted into wider borders of dyed and decorated papers, each page in a contrasting colour to that facing it. The most striking pages use marbled paper, sheets with colourful patterns resembling veined marble. They were created by floating mineral pigments on a viscous liquid surface, partially blending them with swirls or combs, and laying the paper sheets onto the floating design. The technique flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries, and Herat’s paper makers were amongst the greatest masters.

There are some anomalies within the first 24 folios: the frontispiece (ff. 2v-3r) is only outlined and partly coloured, while some pages with stencilled borders have no ruled lines (ff.8-13, 22-24).

The first page contains an illustration of a majlis (sitting room) which can be dated around 1600: a young prince enthroned in a garden pavilion is served a cup of wine by his saqi (cup bearer) and accompanied by four other youths, all in Safavid dress. The weeping willow, cypress, rosebush and chinar tree behind them are all metaphors for love and longing in Persian poetry. The only other miniature follows the preface: a line drawing depicting an older man giving a letter to a younger man. The rest of the manuscript is extensively decorated, beginning with an illuminated heading and continuing with illuminated panels between poems throughout the volume.

Seals and inscriptions on f.2r suggest that the manuscript was in India from at least the mid-18th century, first at the Mughal imperial court and later in the collection of the Awadhi royal library at Lucknow. In 1798, the new ruler of Lucknow, Saadat Ali Khan, presented this copy of the Divan-i Hafiz and five other manuscripts (RCINs 1005015, 1005022, 1005025, 1005032 and 1005068) from the royal library in Lucknow to Lord Teignmouth, Governor-General of Bengal (1793-98), all intended as gifts for George III and shipped by Lord Teignmouth from Calcutta (now Kolkata). Once in England, the manuscripts were brought to The King’s Library in Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace), and moved to the Royal Library at Windsor in the 19th century.

Binding description
Afghanistan or India, probably 18th century. Tan goatskin with gilt decoration, later painted in blue and orange (likely in the late 18th century). The inner covers comprise paper painted brown with blue medallions and gold painted decoration.