Moral lesson (hikayat) on friendship

An excerpt from Sa'di's (d. 691/1292) "Gulistan" (The Rose Garden), with anecdotal stories (hikayat), written in black Shikastah-Nasta'liq Script in 17th-18th Cent. Iran. Calligraphic sheets written in shikastah-nasta'liq script similar to this fragment were produced in Iran during the 17th and 18th centuries. Dimensions of Written Surface: 10.5 (w) x 13.6 (h) cm The text is executed in black shikastah-nasta'liq on a cream-colored paper. The lines of text, which alternate diagonally, are framed by cloud bands on a gold background. The text panel is framed with red, pink, and green borders, and is pasted to a larger sheet of paper backed by cardboard. In the lower right corner of the frames appears a minute scribble, which may be the calligrapher's signature. Unfortunately, it now is illegible. This calligraphic fragment appears to comprise an excerpt from Shaykh Sa'di's (d. 691/1292) "Gulistan" (The Rose Garden), in which he provides readers with a variety of anecdotes or stories (hikayat) with moral lessons. This text describes the anger of a king toward his servant and his desire to punish him, upon which the servant writes a letter to stress his faithfulness and to seek forgiveness. This particular story stresses the virtue of royal clemency. Script: shikastah-nasta'liq 1-87-154.83