"A Bathhouse Keeper is Consumed by Passion for his Beloved", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi

Amir Khusrau Dihlavi|Nar Singh

1597–98 · Main support: Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper Margins: Gold on dyed paper · Islamic Art

Matla’ al-Anwar (Rising of the Luminaries), the first poem of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi’s Quintet, is comprised of 3310 verses compiled approximately in twenty Maqalat (didactic discourses). Matla’ al-Anwar is a response by Amir Khusrau to Nizami Ganjavi’s Makhzan al-Asrar. Painted at Lahore by Nar sing, this painting shows a bathhouse keeper who falls in love when he sees the king on his visit with his retinue. Attention gained by the King, stokes the heat of mystical love that enflames the bathhouse keeper. The King and most of his entourage raise their index fingers in awe and surprise at the sight of the beholder. The painting has a border in siyah qalam (monochrome) style with deer, foxes, hares, and hunting lions in a naturalistic setting with birds perching in the trees.

Artist

Amir Khusrau Dihlavi|Nar Singh

Date

1597–98

Medium

Main support: Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper Margins: Gold on dyed paper

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Gift of Alexander Smith Cochran, 1913