Lot 42 SOHRAB SLAIN BY RUSTAM, FROM FIRDAWSI’S SHAHNAMA, PERSIA, 16TH CENTURY
Persian manuscript on paper, the text written in delicate nastaʿlīq script in black ink arranged in four columns; intercolumnar rules in gold; inner margins ruled in colours and gold; with an illustration executed in gouache and gold.
Framed and glazed.
Leaf: 21 by 29 cm.
This poignant scene illustrates one of the most tragic episodes from Firdawsī’s Shāhnāma. The great hero Rustam, unaware that he had fathered a son with Princess Tahmina, encounters Suhrab on the battlefield, each fighting for opposing sides. Engaged in single combat, they struggle fiercely until Rustam delivers a fatal blow.
Only in the aftermath does the truth emerge: upon seeing the arm bracelet worn by Suhrab—once given by Rustam to Tahmina and passed on to their son as a token of protection—Rustam realises that he has slain his own child.
A powerful meditation on fate, identity, and the tragic consequences of ignorance, this episode stands among the most moving narratives of the Persian epic tradition.