“Lubb-i lubab-i Мa’navi intikhab-i Masnavi”

Before you is a rare Timurid manuscript of the fifteenth century – Lubb-i Lubab-i Ma‘navi, compiled by the distinguished scholar and preacher Husayn Vaiz Kashifi. The work is a carefully selected anthology drawn from Jalal al-Din Rumi’s celebrated mystical poem, the Masnavi-yi Ma‘navi.
The manuscript was copied in 1477 by the calligrapher Darvish Muhammad Taqi during the flourishing cultural era of Herat, one of the major intellectual capitals of the Islamic world. Such books were used not only for reading, but also as educational texts within the Sufi circles of Central Asia.
Notice the unusual organization of the pages. The main text is arranged in narrow columns, while additional notes and commentaries appear in the margins. This layout allowed the manuscript to combine the primary text with interpretation and spiritual commentary within a unified visual structure.
The manuscript is written in nastaliq script, the refined and flowing calligraphic style regarded as the pinnacle of Persian manuscript culture. Even in this relatively small format, the precision of the lines and the balance of the composition are remarkable.
The worn leather binding is equally significant. Traces of ownership notes and centuries of use reveal that this was not merely a ceremonial object, but a living book that circulated through scholarly and Sufi communities across generations.