Id (feast day) Blessing

New Year's (Nowruz) or 'Id (feast day) blessing in Persian, written in Nasta'liq script with Arabic invocation to the prophet of Islam, from India. Dimensions of Written Surface: 22.1 (w) x 8 (h) cm haqq-i ta'ala in 'id-ra bi-dhat 'ali (ya) / Navab Sahib dama iqbaluhu mubarak va humayun gardanad It appears that this calligraphic panel was executed to celebrate the New Year and to wish a princely patron unending prosperity. This practice of offering good wishes in written form during New Year's celebrations is attested to in a number of other calligraphic specimens in the Library of Congress (see 1-04-713.19.3, 1-04-713.19.48, and 1-84-154.51). On this 'id, may God the Exalted bring to the high essence of our Majesty, / Navab Sahib, everlasting, blessed, and good fortune. This calligraphic panel executed in nasta'liq script on a beige paper sprinkled with gold flecks is provided with a (water damaged) frame and is pasted to a brown piece of paper strengthened with cardboard. Between the two lines of calligraphy, which offer a prayer to a ruler on the occasion of 'id, appears another small fragment cut out and pasted in the center left. It reads: "In the name of Muhammad and Muhammad's family [prayers upon them] (bi-haqq-i Muhammad wa Al-i Muhammad, slm.). The two main lines of calligraphy read: This poem wishes a ruler (described as a "high essence," or dhat 'ali) everlasting happiness and good fortune on the occasion of 'id. This festival may be New Year (noruz), that is, the Spring equinox (March 21st) marking the beginning of the solar calendar as celebrated in Iran and parts of India. An Indian provenance is supported by the fact that the title "Navab Sahib" was used, for example, by rulers of the Junagadh province in northern India from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Script: nasta'liq 1-04-713.19.49