Quatrain on the virtue of patience

Quatrain on the virtue of patience, produced in 18th Cent India, present day Pakistan (Lahore) in Nasta'liq script. Dimensions of Written Surface: 10.3 (w) x 20.5 (h) cm I went to the doctor, asked about my severe pain / (And) what could he do for my lovesickness / He ordered as a drink the blood of liver and water of the eye / I said: "What kind of food (is that)?," and he answered: "You must eat liver." Raftam bi-tabib guftam az ghayat-i dard / Bimari-yi 'ishq-ra cha mibayad kard / Khun-i jigar ab-i dida sharbat farmud / Guftam ka ghaza guft jigar bayad kard The doctor recommends his lovesick patient to endure (literally, "eat liver" or jigar khwurdan) the pains of love, as there is no medicinal potion that will cure him. The verses are written diagonally in nasta'liq script in white ink on a light brown paper. The calligrapher Muhammad Muhsin has signed his work (raqamahu, or "has written it") in the lower left corner. On the verso of this fragment appears a later note in English attributing the work to a certain "Muhammad Muhsin Lahuri." He can be identified as Muhammad Muhsin Lahuri, who may have have formed part of a group of calligraphers active in Lahore during the 18th century that included 'Abdallah Lahuri (1-04-713.19.43) and Muhammad Zahir Lahuri (1-04-713.19.40). After the death of Aurangzeb (d. 1707), Mughal power was decentralized and royal patronage of calligraphy declined. The rise of new styles emerged in cities like Lucknow, Hyderabad, and Lahore, where calligraphers active in the nasta'liq script such as Muhammad Muhsin sought out patronage from local rulers. This calligraphic fragment includes an iambic pentameter quatrain, or ruba'i, on the need for endurance. The verses read: Script: nasta'liq 1-04-713.19.52