Skip to main content
Collections Menu
SAM'S collection
Amir Khusrau the poet receives his friend Ali
Amir Khusrau the poet receives his friend Ali

Amir Khusrau the poet receives his friend Ali

Dateca. 1450
Label TextHasht-Bihisht (translated to Eight Paradises) is one of five narrative poems that comprise the Khamsa (quintet). Authored by Amir Khusrau (ca. 1253–1325), it is considered one of the most important Persian works composed in South Asia. Similar to much medieval Persian poetry, Khusrau’s Khamsa harkens back to past literary genres, thematically emulating the Khamsa of another Persian poet, Nizami. Completed in the speedy Naskhi script, the Persian text envelops the bold painting of the figure of Amir Khusrau speaking with his friend Ali, who urges him to pen the Hasht-Bihisht. Its primary colors, horizontal picture format, double red rulings, and three-quarter profiles indicate that this folio was produced in the Sultanate period. The gesticulating hands bent at the wrist suggest that Ali and Khusrau are in the midst of conversation.
Object number63.39
Provenance[Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, New York]; purchased from gallery by Seattle Art Museum (Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection), January 25, 1963
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Images of Power, Dec. 12, 1986 - Sept. 21, 1987. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view July 16 - Dec. 5, 2021].Published ReferencesArchives of Chinese Art Society of America, XVIII, page 82, #48 Brend, Barbara. “Perspectives on Persian Painting, Illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah.” London, New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003
Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection
Dimensions3 3/4 x 8 1/8 in. (9.53 x 20.64 cm) Overall h.: 11 3/4 in. Overall w.: 8 3/4 in.
MediumOpaque watercolor and ink on paper
Photo: Paul Macapia
Persian
late 15th - 16th century
Object number: 47.95
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
Indian
ca. 1685
Object number: 44.44
Portrait of Prince Khurram (Shah Jahan)
Indian
first quarter 17th century
Object number: 44.650
Elephant and mahout (elephant driver)
Indian
ca. 1595-1600
Object number: 57.78
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
Mark Tobey
1947
Object number: 2009.52.110
Game Bird; Hunting scene
Indian
17th century
Object number: 59.45
Krishna in a garden
Indian
ca. 1700
Object number: 62.92
Mughal Miniature: Night Scene
Indian
17th century
Object number: 47.94
Nobleman and Reader with Attendants
Mughal
probably 16th century
Object number: 40.34
Photo: Paul Macapia
Persian
probably 18th century
Object number: 40.37