Persian Manuscripts : Khulāṣat al-Ashʻār va Zubdat al-Afkār

Kāshānī, Mīr Taqī al-Dīn, active 17th centuryکاشانى، مير تقى الدين

Persian Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'> This complete copy of the <i>Khulāṣat al-Ashʻār va Zubdat al-Afkār</i> (Summary of Poems and Pith of Philosophies) by Mīr Taqī al-Dīn Kāshānī (fl. late 16th to early 17th century) chronicles early modern Persian poets. Comprised of an introduction, six parts, and an epilogue (<i>khātimah</i>), it profiles the lives of some 394 poets together with examples of their poems. The author recounts many contemporaries whom he knew personally and relates a number of valuable eyewitness accounts and observations not found in other sources. While the British Library holds a copy (Or. 3506) that contains the first part of the work in Mīr Taqī's hand, this volume includes the final epilogue. Former owner, scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865) describes the contents of this manuscript in his essay on Persian poetry chronicles as opening with an econium praising God, the Prophet Muhammad, and his progeny, followed by a panegyric honouring the Safavid ruler Shāh Ṭahmāsp I (b. 1514, r. 1524–1576). However, he also notes how the author curiously dedicates it to the ruler of the Deccan Sultanate of Bijapur, Ībrāhīm ‘Ādil Shāh II (b. 1571, r. 1580–1626) on folio <a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(10);return false;'>3b</a>, which likely reflects the author's declining patronage in Iran after Ṭahmāsp's death. </p>