Standard that the nations bent

[CONTINUED ON PAGE TWENTY-THREE]

* * * * *

_"Lips sweet as sugar on my pen bestow,
And from my book let streams of odour flow."_

--J'AMI.

ILLUSTRATED AND ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT

The complete volume of "YUSUF-OU-ZALIKHA", the popular poem by the
famous mystic poet J'AMI, based on the Biblical story of JOSEPH and
POTIPHAR'S WIFE. The scribe, MIR ALI SULTANI.

The colophon reads:

"Terminated by the sinner, humble MIR ALI SULTANI the penman, may God
forgive his sins and shelter his faults. Terminated in the month of
MOHARRAM AL HARAM in the year A.H. 944 (in letters) (A.D. 1537) in the
glorious city of BUKHARA."

The Dedication in the handwriting of the scribe, in ornate gold
lettering, reads:

"For his majesty, the AUGUST, the just, the possessor of virtues, the
great KHAGAN GHAZI ABD-UL-AZIZ BAHADUR KHAN, may his domain last
forever."

The autograph of the Emperor SHAH JAHAN, the "GREAT MOGUL", on the
magnificently decorated mount reads:

"In the name of God compassionate and merciful this YUSUF-OU-ZALIKHA
treasured on the occasion of BLESSED ACCESSION." (A.D. 1627)

In confirmation of the foregoing, it is of great interest that
JAHANGIR makes special reference in his memoirs (Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri) to
an incident, as of highest importance, that he was presented by
ABD-AL-RAHIM KHAN, KHAN-I-KHANAN, with a superb copy of J'AMI'S poem
YUSUF-OU-ZALIKHA, transcribed by MIR ALI SULTANI, "Prince of Penmen",
and that the gift was appraised at "a thousand Muhr".

[Illustration: COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED AND ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT OF
"YUSUF-OU-ZALIKHA", BY THE FAMOUS MYSTIC POET J'AMI]

ONE OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE MANUSCRIPT YUSUF-OU-ZALIKHA

ZALIKHA in old age, broken and in poverty, meets YUSUF in the market
place in Egypt.

_"Where is thy youth, and thy beauty, and pride?"
"Gone, since I parted from thee," she replied.
"Where is the light of thine eye?" said he.
"Drowned in blood-tears for the loss of thee."
"Why is that cypress tree bowed and bent?"
"By absence from thee and my long lament."
"Where is thy pearl, and thy silver and gold,
And the diadem bright on thy head of old?"..._

--Quotation from YUSUF-OU-ZALIKHA (J'AMI).
Translation of R.T. GRIFFITH.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: CHISELLED SILVER BOWL, DECORATED IN FILIGREE AND
POLYCHROME ENAMEL. PERSIAN WORK OF TH