[IO Islamic 141] خمسۀ نظامى

<strong>Khamsa-i-Niżâmî.</strong> <strong>This manuscript is now IO Islamic 973 in the India Office collections.</strong> <strong>[metadata:</strong> <strong>Hermann Ethé</strong><strong><em>, </em></strong><strong><em>Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office,</em></strong> <strong>2 vols. (Oxford: India Office, 1903): volume 1,</strong> <strong>number 141 here with notations and hyperlinks].</strong> 973 Another copy of the same. Contents: 1.Makhzan-alasrâr, on fol. 1^b. 2. Khusrau u Shîrîn on fol. 33^b (date of composition, A.H. 576, on fol. 119^a, lin. penult.). 3.Lailâ u Majnûn, on fol. 122^b. 4. Haft Paikar, on fol. 180^b. 5^a. The <em>first</em> part of the Iskandarnâma, styled اقبالنامۀ سكندرى, on fol. 241^b. 5^b. The <em>second</em> part of the Iskandarnâma, styled شرفنامۀ سكندرى, on fol. 324^b. Dated in the month Rabî’-althânî, A.H. 975=A.D. 1567, October (on fol. 241^a there is written by mistake سنۀ سبع خمسين الخ instead of خمس و سبعين الخ). Some small lacunas at the beginning of several pages. Ff. 39-42 are misplaced, the right order of the leaves is: 39, 41, 40, 42. On fol. 369^a, l. 2, the same rhymed epilogue on Niżâmî’s death appears, which has been noticed in Rieu ii. pp. 564^b and 565^a; it is styled انجامش روزگار نظامى, and states that the poet’s life extended to 63 years and six months. No. 141, ff. 370, 4 coll., each ll. 20; Nasta’lîḳ; an illuminated frontispiece at the beginning of each mathnawî; illuminated headings throughout the copy; the first two pages luxuriously embellished; miniature paintings on ff. 4^b, 15^a, 32^a, 42^a, 49^a, 57^a, 62^b, 76^b, 105^a, 162^b, 171^a, 211^a, 214^a, 217^b, 221^b, 227^a, and 271^b; size, 12¼ in. by 7½ in.