Page of Calligraphy from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
16th–17th century
Medium
Opaque watercolor, ink, silver, and gold on paper
Dimensions
Overall Page: H. 13 in. (33 cm) W. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm) Text Block: H. 7 1/16 in. (18 cm) W. 4 7/16 in. (11.2 cm)
Classification
Codices
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Fletcher Fund, 1963
Accession Number
63.210.54
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite page of calligraphy comes from a luxurious manuscript of *Manti al-Tayr* (Language of the Birds), masterpiece of Persian Sufi poetry by the 12th–13th-century mystic Farid al-Din `Attar. Composed around 1177, the epic allegorically recounts birds embarking on a perilous quest for their divine king, the Simurgh,izing the soul's journey toward spiritual enlightenment. Produced in the 16th–17th—likely in the Safavid or Ottoman realms—this folio captures the enduring reverence for `Attar's work in Islamic literary and artistic traditions. The artistry shines in its masterful calligr...