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A New Volume of the Illustrated Aghn Manuscript

Author(s): S. M. Stern
Source: Ars Orientalis, Vol. 2 (1957), pp. 501-503
Published by: Freer Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian Institution and Department of the History
of Art, University of Michigan
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4629057 .
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 NOTES
second was for the office of the jamdar, i.e., the
master of the wardrobe.23
The earliest known dated examples with these
two blazons refer to two princes who were in the
court of Sultan Muhammad al-Nasir ibn-Qalauin:
the first was Turjl ;1' his cup bearer who died in
73I H. (A.D. I330) and the second was Aqbugha
min 'Abd al-Waiid his jamdar who was executed in
744 H. (A.D. I343).
Does this mean that Sharaf was living and
working during the time of that great Mamlulk
sultan whose long reign was the golden age of
Islamic art in Egypt and in whose time the de-
corative arts reached a greater perfection than ever
before or since?
In fact, the perfection of the works of this potter,
whether in form, glazing, coloring, pattern, or
naskhi inscription, speaks of a very civilized taste
which undoubtedly prevailed during the time of
that Mamlfik sultan. I feel very much inclined, in
view of the present data, to attribute Sharaf al-
Abwani to the period of Muliammad al-Nasir ibn
Qalaun, i.e., 693-74i H./A.D. I293-I34I.
M. A. MARZOUK
A NEW VOLUME OF THE ILLUSTRATED
AGHANT MANUSCRIPT
Severalvolumesof a splendidset of manuscripts
of AbuI'-Farajal-Iafah&nl's Kitab al-Aghcni, ex-
quisitely written and providedwith a miniatured
frontispiecefor each volume, have alreadybecome
known,thanks to the successiveeffortsof various
scholars.The Kitab al-AghIani,"Book of Songs,"
writtenin the firsthalf of the tenth century,is one
of the most valuableworksof Arabicliterature. It
is a collectionof poemsthat had been set to music,
together with biographiesof the authors of the
poemsand the composersof the melodies,and is a
veritable storehouse of information concerning
literaryandculturalhistory.Thereis goodreasonto
believethat the set of manuscriptsin question,the
only illustratedmanuscriptof the Aghaniknown,
was preparedbetween ca. I2I7 and M2g9 for the
libraryof Badr al-DinLu'lu',regentof Mosul(who
governed,in variouscapacities,from I2IO to I259).
23 Ibid., pp. 67 and I4I,
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50I
Originally it consisted of 20 volumes, of which
hitherto 6 had been identified (although as the
frontispiece of one of these volumes is lost, we had
only had five miniatures). It was my fortune to
discover an additional volume of the set, with its
frontispiece preserved, in the Royal Library at
Copenhagen, thus bringing the total of volumes
recovered to 7, and that of miniatures to 6; the
purpose of the present article is to describe this
volume and publish its frontispiece.
It will be useful to start with a short account of
the discovery of the various volumes. Volumes II,
IV, XI, and XIII of the set are in the Egyptian
Library, Cairo (the miniature of volume XIII is
missing); volumes XVII and XIX are in the
Feyzullah Library, Istanbul; the volume in Copen-
hagen is volume XX, the last of the set. The
miniatures of volumes II and IV were first published
byAhmed Mousain his ZurGeschichtederislamischen
Buchmalerei in Agypten, Cairo, I93I, pp. 38-40,
pls. xi-xii. K. Holter pointed out in I937, on the
basis of information received from H. Ritter,' the
existence of the two volumes in Istanbul, without,
however, giving illustrations (see Die islamischen
Miniaturhandschriften vor I350, Zentralblatt fur
Bibliothekswesen, vol. 54 [I937], p. I5, No. 36; also
Die Galen-Handschrift und die Makamen des
Hariri der Wiener Nationalbibliothek,Jahrbuch der
kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, vol. ii
[I937], pp. 37-38). B. Fares discovered the miniature
in volume XI and devoted a whole book to it: Une
miniaturereligieusede l'ecolearabede Bagdad, Cairo,
I948. Finally, D. S. Rice published the two Feyz-
ullah miniatures (The Aghani miniatures and
religious painting in Islam, The Burlington Maga-
zine, vol. 95 [I953], p. I28ff.).
The Copenhagenmanuscript, bearing the number
i68, is adequately described in the catalogue (Codices
Orientales Bibliothecae Regiae Hafniensis, vol. 2
[Copenhagen, I85I], pp. I06-I07): "Fol. ir pictura
occupat, splendidissima olim, sed nunc contaminata,
equitis imaginem sistens, falconem album in sinistra
gestantis, quem angeli utriusque comitari videntur.
... 240 foll. Subscriptio finalis, fol. 240v hadha
akhir Kitab al-Aghani al-kabir al-j2mi' min tasnff
AbV'l-Faraj 'Ali b. al-Husayn b. Muhammad al-
I?fah1ni. Absoluta est scriptura codicis mense
1
Ritter published his own notes in Philologika XIII,
Oriens, VOl. 2 (I949), P. 278.
502
Ramadhan a. 6i6 (Chr. I2I9); exaravit eum
Muhammad b. Abi Talib el-Bedri."2
The calligraphy (the script, the arrangement of
the page, etc.) is identical with that of the rest of
the volumes. Examples of the writing of volume XI
are published by Fares (pls. i-iii), and of volumeXIX
by Rice (p. I33); these may be compared with the
first page of the Copenhagenmanuscript reproduced
here (fig. I). The name of the scribe, Mubammadb.
AbI Talib al-Badri, also occurs in volume XI, where
he signs as the scribe of that volume and of "those
preceding it." Volume XI is dated from 6I4 H./I2I7,
while volume XX is from 6i6 H./i2i9-thus it took
the scribetwo years to finishvolumesXII-XX.
It is, however, the frontispiece miniature that
attracts the greatest interest (fig. 2). Not being a
historian of art, I do not intend to offeran exhaustive
study of it, but shall confine myself to publishing
it and making the most necessary comments. It is
to be hoped that in due course further observations
will be forthcoming from more competent quarters.
It is obvious that the miniature depicts a rider
with a falcon perching on his left hand and two genii
hovering above him. This at least is not open to
controversy; yet the obvious question of why this
subject was chosen for the frontispiece takes us into
the thick of learned controversy. Students of
Islamic art will be familiar with the scholarly
dispute waged in these last years concerning the
subject matter of the Aghani miniatures hitherto
known. Holter, following Ritter, has assumed that
the two Istanbul manuscripts depict courtly scenes.
B. Fares, who in his book confined himself to
volume XI, assumed that the frontispiece of that
volume represented a scene from the life of Muliam-
mad, viz, the reception by him of the leaders of a
deputation from the town of Najran, a bishop and a
prefect-the very scene which forms the subject
matter of the text that opens the volume. Doubts
about the interpretation of the miniature as a scene
from the life of the Prophet were raised by E.
2 The end flyleaf contains a notarial note in Maghri-
bi handwritingaccordingto whichthe manuscriptwas
bought by the Hasani 'Alami Sharif, the /aqfh and
'adl, Shaykh al-Tayyib b. Shaykh Muhammad(?) b.
Shaykh Qasim al-Harraq of Tetuan, from the talib
Shaykh Ahmad al-Malih,also of Tetuan. The manu-
script is, then, like the greaterpart of the Copenhagen
collection, of Moroccanprovenience.
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NOTES
Kiihnel, in a review of Fares' book in Oriens, vol. 4
(I95I), pp. I7I-I73; the argumentswith which
Fares (Oriens, vol. 5 [I952], pp. 36I-364) tried
to rebut those of Kiihnel do not, in my view,
hold good. Finally, the whole question was reviewed
by D. S. Rice in the article quoted above. In my
view, Rice has established the true nature of the
miniatures, and I cannot do better than reproduce
his conclusionsin his own words: "It may be assumed
that four out of the five surviving frontispiece
miniatures of the kitab al-aghani depict the ruler of
Mosul (and probable owner of the manuscript),
Badr al-din Lu'lu', surrounded by his followers."
After quoting similar frontispieces of other manu-
scripts, Rice adds: "They all represent various
scenes connected with life at court. So do four out
of five of the Aghani frontispieces. The fifth, and so
far unique scene (which deserves a detailed ex-
amination), may represent female musicians and
entertainers attached to the court ... One fact is
obvious. There is no specific connexion between the
subjects depicted on such frontispiece-miniatures
and the narrative matter in the volumes which
they adorn."
Fares is not, however, convinced by Rice's
article and devoted a long study (L'artsacre chezun
primitif musulman, Bulletin de l'Institut d' tgypte,
vol. 36 [I953-541, pp. 6i9-677) to its refutation,
which contains valuable material but does not, at
least as far as I am concerned, carry conviction.
(Fares announces moreover the forthcoming publi-
cation of a further study in which he proposes to
show that all the miniatures are connected with the
text of the volumes.) He does make one point, viz,
that there is no proof to show that the manuscript
is connected with Badr al-Din Lu'lu' of Mosul; yet
I continue to hold with Rice that it is at least
highly probable that it is. Fortunately the restricted
scope of the present article releases me from the
obligation of examining the evidence, or acting as a
judge between the conflicting opinions. It is
sufficient for me to state in general that in my view
the opinion according to which the miniatures
represent courtly scenes is the more acceptable one,
and to restrict a more detailed examination to the
miniature of the Copenhagen volume.
First, is there a connection between the miniature
and the first chapter of the text contained in the
volume? That chapter consists of the biography of
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 NOTES
the poet al-Namirb. Tawlab, a contemporaryof
Mulammad.To be sure, he is described as one
famousamongthe ancientArabsfor his generosity
and knightly qualities; but it could hardly be
argued that the figure in the miniature is an
illustrationof this knightly character.There is no
mentionof falconry,or of huntingin general,in the
biography.Thus one must concludethat the figure
does not serve as an illustrationto the first chapter
of the volume,the biographyof al-Namirb. Tawlab.
It seems to me that we can safely assert that it
representsyet another"sceneconnectedwith life at
court," viz, the prince at the hunt, holding his
falcon on his left hand. The two genii, holding a
canopyabovehis head,arefittingaccessoriesin the
representationof a prince.Thusthe new miniature
bearsout the conclusionof Rice.
The wholeconceptionof the miniature,as well as
the details in its execution, tallies perfectly well
with the otherminiatures,andmoreespeciallywith
those of volumesXI, XVII, and XIX. (Theclosest
parallel is the riding figure in the miniature of
volume XIX.) The figureof the princeis the same
and his robe and headgearare representedin the
same manner.The sleeve bands contain the in-
scription: Badr al-Din (left sleeve) Lu'lu' (right
sleeve),as in volumesXVII andXIX. (VolumeXVII
has Badr al-Din Lu'lu' b. 'Abd Allah; the right
sleeve band on our miniatureis not preservedwell
enoughto allowus to ascertainwhetherit contains
the words "b. 'Abd Allah" after "Lu'lu'.")Fares
assertsthat the inscriptionsof the sleeve bandsare
in the script of the fourteenthcentury and were
forged at that time. I cannot help wondering
whether our knowledge of Arabic paleography
warrants such refined dating of an inscription
consistingof a few letters, and the assumptionof a
fourteenth-centuryforgerylooks to me a bit far-
fetched. Thus I think we may safely take the
inscription at its face value and, in addition,
concludewith greatlikelihoodthat the name"Badr
al-DinLu'lu'b. 'AbdAllah"foundin a manuscript
dated6I7-6i9 refersto Badral-DinLu'lu'of Mosul.
Like the other miniatures, ours, too, has a
narrowerinner and a broader outer frame. The
ornament in these frames is different in each
miniature.
I may add that the motif of the falconer on
horsebackholding his falcon on his left hand is
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503
very frequent.It appears,for instance,twice in a
bowl made for an officerof Badr al-Din Lu'lu' of
Mosul, named Najm al-Din 'Umar.3 It seems,
however, that our miniature represents not the
falconer,but the princehimself.
No doubtthere arein the miniaturemoredetails
that call for comment-but I leave these to more
competenthands,satisfiedwith havingcontributed
to the restorationof that magnificentmonumentof
Islamicart, the set of the AghMnimanuscript.
S. M. STERN
AN ILLUSTRATEDLEAF FROM A LOST
MAMLUKKALILAHWA-DIMNAHMANU-
SCRIPT
Among the books which attracted the Muslim
artists,Kalilahwa-Dimnah wasa particularfavorite.
The Arabic version of Ibn al-Muqaffa'(eighth
centuryA.D.) goes back throughthe first Pahlavi
version of Burzc6 (sixth century A.D.) to Indian
originalsthat included,among other fable books,
the Panchatantra. Thebookbelongsto that genreof
literatureknownas "Fiirstenspiegel"in whichmoral
adviceintendedfor princesis put into the mouthof
animals.Ibn al-Muqaffa"s book becameone of the
most popularbooks of Arabicliterature.'
It survivesin a considerablenumberof illustrated
manuscriptsproduced at various times and in
various countries of the Islamic world.2Among
these an interestinggroupbelongsto the Mamluik
8 See D. S. Rice, Studies in Islamic metal works, III,
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies,
vol. I5 (I953), p. 235 and pl. vii, p. 237 and pl. viii.
1 For the history of the book in Islamic literature,
see C. Brockelmann, Kalfla wa-Dimna, Encyclopedia
of Islam, Leyden-London, I9I3-38, vol. 2, pp. 694-98;
H. Buchthal, Indian fables in Islamic art, Journal of
the Royal Asiatic Society, 194I, pp. 3I7-324.
2 A series of illustrated manuscripts of the Persian
version belonging to the fourteenth century is de-
scribed by B. Gray, Fourteenth-century illustrations of
the Kalilah wa-Dimnah, Ars Islamica, vol. 7 (I940),
pp. I34-I40; the author proposed to study illuminated
Persian manuscripts of later periods in a second part
(which has not yet appeared). For a thirteenth-century
illustrated manuscript of the Arabic text, cf. H.
Buchthal, Hellenistic miniatures in early Islamic manu-
scripts, Ars Islamica, vol. 7 (I940), pp. I28ff.