MAJNUN AT A SHRINE, PERSIA, SAFAVID, 16TH CENTURY

An illustrated folio from a Khamsa of Nizami, opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, Majnun opens the door of a maqam surrounded by a crowd, four columns of text in nastaliq script above and below within gold rules. All ruled in gold and polychrome borders.
23 by 15.5 cm.
Text: 16 by 10 cm.

CATALOGUE NOTE
After being banned from seeing his childhood love Layla, Qays ibn al-Mulawwah’s obsessiveness drives him mad and makes him run away into the wilderness. His tribe gives him the epithet of Majnun (crazy).
The scene of this folio depicts Majnun’s father’s attempt to cure him, by taking him to a shrine/maqam to seek God's help in freeing him. Finally they take him to the Kabaa after many unsucceeded attempts. However, Majnun strikes the Kaaba and cries and demands to be allowed to love. He continues to wander in the wilderness, chanting poems about Layla’s love and beauty.