Makhzan al-asrar (Treasury of secrets) by Haydar Khwarazmi (d.1414?)

Object Details

• Calligrapher

  Mir Ali Haravi (died ca. 1550)

• Description

  Manuscript; Makhzan al-asrar (Treasury of secrets) by Haydar Khwarazmi; ChaghatayTurkish in black and white nasta'liq script; 32 folios with a double-page frontispiece (fols.2verso, and 3recto), illuminated headings, 9 paintings (fols.1 recto, 10 recto, 12 recto, 14 recto, 17 recto, 19 recto, 22 verso, 24 recto, 26 recto), and a dated colophon (folio 32 recto); seals (fols.2 and 32 recto); inscriptions (fols.1 recto, 31 recto); standard page: 2 columns, 12 lines of text.

  Binding: The manuscript is bound in leather over paper pasteboards stamped with the name of Vever; the lower and upper covers both have a border of multiple fillets.

• Marks

  Seals: (fols. 2, 31 recto, oval) his slave Muhammad b. Muhammad Riza Mahdi.

• Inscriptions

  Fol. 2 recto: "the book of Makhzan al-asrar of Haydar Tilba, copied by Ali al-Katib, the date of the month of Rabi' I."

• Label

  Nizami's Makhzan al-asrar (Treasury of secrets) inspired the poet Mir Haydar Khawrazmi, active in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, to compose his own version of the didactic poem in Chagatay Turkish. In this illustration, the Ghaznavid ruler Sultan-Mahmud encounters a disheveled Sufi dervish (ascetic) in a ruin outside the city. Rather than rejoicing in the king's presence, the ascetic criticizes him for his pursuit of worldly riches and disregard for the afterlife. When Sultan-Mahmud asks the Sufi about his readiness for death, the old man smiles and drops dead in front of him.

  Most illustrations of this anecdote focus on a slightly later and more visually dramatic moment in the narrative, when the dervish has already expired. Here, the artist has represented the philosophical and theological exchange between the two men.

• Provenance

  To 1908

  Reza Khan Monif, Paris, France. [1]

  From 1908 to 1942

  Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France, purchased from Reza Khan Monif, Paris, France on April 9, 1908. [2]

  From 1942 to 1986

  Family member, Paris and Boulogne, France, by inheritance from Henri Vever, Paris and Noyers, France. [3]

  From 1986

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchased from a family member, Paris and Boulogne, France. [4]

  Notes:

  [1] See Susan Nemazee, "Appendix 7: Chart of Recent Provenance" in An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection, Glenn D. Lowry et al (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 400. See also Glen D. Lowry and Susan Nemazee, "Appendix 2: Ledger of Acquisitions, 1894 and 1907-17" in A Jeweler’s Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 229.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See the Agreement for the Purchase and Sale of the Henri Vever Collection of January 9, 1986, Collections Management Office.

  [4] See note 3.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture (February 24, 2012 to January 13, 2013)

  Love and Yearning: Mystical and Moral Themes in Persian Painting (August 30, 2003 to February 22, 2004)

  Other Worldly Visions: Persian and Indian Paintings from the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (March 27, 1998 to May 10, 1998)

  Crushed Lapis and Burnished Gold: The Art of Illumination (June 9 to December 8, 1991)

  A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection (November 20, 1988 to April 30, 1989)

  International Exhibition of Persian Art (January 7 to March 7, 1931)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Henri Vever (1854-1942)

  Reiza Khan Monif (1850/1851-1923)

  Francois Mautin (1907-2003)

• Origin

  Khurasan, Iran (present-day Afghanistan)

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Manuscript

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1500s, 1610s, 1600s, 1590s, 1540s, 1650s, 1530s, 1640s, 1520s, 1630s, 1510s, 1620s, 1580s, 1730s, 1690s, 1570s, 1680s, 1560s, 1670s, 1550s, 1660s

• Name

  Mautin, Francois Albert, Monif, Reiza Khan, Vever, Henri

• Place

  Khurasan

• Topic

  S?afavid dynasty, 1501-1736, Art, Henri Vever collection, Arts of the Islamic World

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Language

  Nasta?li-q script

• Object Type

  Manuscripts