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Raeisi I. (2026). Shahab al-din Abdullah Morvarid's Preface to the Album (Muraqqa) Amir Alishir Navai: A newly discovered document. , JIC. 10(1), 77-104. doi:10.66224/jic.10.1.421
URL: http://jih-tabriziau.ir/article-1-421-en.html

Studies on the history of Iranian painting and albums (Muraqqa’at) indicate that the preface of Shahab al-Din Abdullah Morvarid is among the oldest prefaces written for Amir Alishir Navai's album during the Timurid period. The most important source preserving a copy of this preface is the Sharafnameh of Morvarid, although neither the original version of the preface nor the works contained in Navai's album have yet been identified. During an examination of the album of Shah Tahmasp held in the Istanbul University Library (nekfy01422), documents were discovered that led to the hypothesis that these materials could represent the original version of Morvarid’s preface along with other works by calligraphers intended for Navai’s album. Accordingly, the article aims to analyze these materials. The findings reveal that the pages of Shah Tahmasp’s album measure 476×340 mm and are decorated with gilded margins. The layout of the text is consistent across its pages. However, the pages attributed to Morvarid’s preface and other components of Navai’s album are slightly smaller, featuring a distinct gold-colored tableau and being mounted onto the background of Shah Tahmasp’s album. Morvarid composed the preface using the Taaliq script, in which he was highly skilled, and he also employed this script in his Munsha’at. The preface is dated 897AH and was written in Herat, while his other works bear the signature Abdullah Ibn Muhammad. Additionally, works by other calligraphers such as Vali Gilani and Saifullah Kermani, also dated 897AH, are present. It is suggested that Navai’s album may have been created as a tribute to Taj Salmani, who died in that year. The research is based on library resources, with Shah Tahmasp’s album accessed online, and follows a historical, descriptive-analytical approach.