Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) by Amir Khusraw Dihlavi (d.1325); verso: Bahram Gur in a rage; recto: text

Pre-Mughal School Detached folio from a dispersed copy of Khamsa (Quintet) by Amir Khusraw Dihlavi, text: Persian in black nasta'liq script, recto: text, four columns, nineteen lines; verso: illustration and text, Bahram Gur in a rage, four columns, eleven lines; one of a group of six folios. Border: Text is within a border of colored panels. Stamps: London 1931 - VV45/418; Paris Douanes Expo; Paris Douanes Centrale Ex/ portation/ Tailleur Fils [see notes]; abstract of text: Bahram Gor, out hunting with his concubine Naznin, has performed a feat of archery: by castrating a male gazelle and shooting two arrows into the head of a female, he has "turned a male into a female and a female into a male." When he asks Naznin what she thinks of this feat, she replies that, although it was pretty good, others could probably do as well, if not better. In a rage, Bahram Gor responds, "What I did was perfection. How could anyone do any better? If you think there is someone better than me, go to him!"; în sukhan guft u pay ba kîn afshurd/ û fikandash zi zîn u markab burd/ Shud shah u Nâznîn ba ranj bimând/ Azhdihâ barguzasht u ganj bimând [Thus saying, he took to revenge/ throwing her from her saddle and taking her horse away./ The king left, leaving Naznin in pain:/ the dragon went away and the treasure remained behind.] [Lines immediately above and below illustration, which shows Naznin lying on the ground and the gazelles with their sexes "reversed" by Bahram Gor.] Arthur M. Sackler Collection A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection (November 20, 1988 to April 30, 1989)