Verses on the beloved

Verses on the beloved, Persian poem describing the heavenly scent and life-endowing capabilities of the beloved, written by calligrapher Munshi Ram, from West Bengal India in the Nasta'liq script. Agar cha mushk-i az far khush nasim ast / Dam-i jan bakhsh chun buyat nadarad / Maqam-i khub u dilkhwah-st firdaws / Valikin runaq-i kuyat nadarad Although musk smells fragrant / It does not breathe life like your scent / Paradise is a good and beloved place / But it is not as splendid as your abode Although the calligraphic specimen is neither signed nor dated, a later note on the fragment's verso attributes the piece to a certain "Munshi Ram." This calligrapher may be identified with Munshi Ram (1737-90), a writer specializing in Arabic and Persian who was active in Radhanagar, West Bengal (India). Another specimen signed by Munshi Ram is held in the collections of the Library of Congress (1-04-713.19.54). Judging from both specimens, he seems to have been an 18th-century Indian calligrapher who prefered writing verses in nasta'liq script using white ink on red backgrounds. Dimensions of Written Surface: 8 (w) x 14 (h) cm The text is executed in nasta'liq script in white ink on a red background. Blue panels decorated with gold flower and leaf motifs separate and frame the lines of text . Other monochromatic frames also appear on the larger sheet of beige paper backed by cardboard onto which the text panel has been pasted. This calligraphic fragment includes four lines of Persian poetry describing the heavenly scent and life-endowing capabilities of the beloved: Script: nasta'liq 1-04-713.19.55