Manuscript of the Muntakhab-i Bustan (Selections from the Bustan by Sa`di)

The manuscript opens with an exquisitely illuminated sarlawh above the text which is copied in two columns and 14 lines to a page in nasta`liq. According to the colophon the manuscript was copied by Mir Sayyid Ahmad al-Husayni who, based on a note on the first folio, was a pupil of Mir ‘Ali (Haravi). The text area is finely gold speckled. The binding is decorated with large-plate stamped and gilt leather covers, and the doublures are decorated with filigrees over colored paper ground; however, most filigrees have been damaged over time.