Published by: Majles Shora Library, 320 Pages, 2013, Tehran.Introduction The life of calligraphers has been versified by “Muhammad Husain ‘Alawī”, one of the calligraphist writers of India in 1277 A.H. / 1860 A.D. When England had full dominance on India and the radiance of commonalities between India and Iran was extinguishing, Bahādur Shāh II, the last Gūrkānī (Mughal) king of India (1837 – 1857 A.D.) who himself was a calligrapher, bestowed the title of “Shīrīn Raqam” upon Muhammad Husain. At such a time composing of a biographical memoirs about the scribes and calligraphers of India and Iran – from Adam to the year of scribing the copy in 1305 A.H. / 1888 A.D. – and recording it in the history is very valuable and it will be useful in the comparative study of the art of both countries. According to the information obtained from this very biographical memoirs, the writing of poetry and calligraphy was hereditary in his family and his father Hasan bin Sa‘īd too was one of the learned persons of his time and was expert in composing Arabic poems and scribing the Holy Quran and lived as a dervish (mendicant). Muhammad Husain, whose mother tongue was most probably Urdu, has composed this biography in a simple and versatile Persian and he himself mentions that he has no claim in the art of writing poetry. This is why this work along with the facing of decline of Persian language in the subcontinent of that time, provides many points and information regarding the calligraphers and the chains of their studentship and mastership. Information about the different scripts of calligraphers, determination of the criterion and their elegant criticism, their titles and hometowns and their connections with the power centers, emirs and kings is very useful and it is considered as one of the firsthand and rare sources, especially regarding the contemporaries of the author. A very perfect and legible copy of this biographical memoirs exists in Sālār Jung Museum of Hyderabad under accession No. 1434 which has been transcribed in Nasta‘līq script in 1305 A.H. This manuscript, according to its colophon, is the fair copy which has been seen and corrected by the poet. Since this copy has been confirmed by the author and no other copy has been found, the said manuscript has been the basis of this editing. The scribe too like the versifier of the work, Persian was not his mother tongue and therefore some mistakes have also taken place in this manuscript by his pen and probably they were not discernable for the author too. On the basis of available researches, much of the information of these biographical memoirs requires corrections or additions and it has been tried to present this work with the utmost abbreviation in the foot notes. In writing the descriptions and details, along with the Persian and English sources, mostly the Persian sources and biographical memoirs of India (like Mirāt-al-‘Ālam by Bakhtāwar Khān and Tadhkira-i-Khushnawīsān by Haft Qalamī Dihlavī) and also Urdu biographical memoirs have been taken into consideration. The part dealing with the biography of calligraphers from the book “Mirāt-al-‘Ālam” by Bakhtāwar Khān is also supplemented with this biographical memoirs due to two main reasons. Firstly due to the fact that it has not been published in Iran till now and secondly due to the fact that Muhammad Husain himself has reminded that he has versified much of the part of “Hayāt-i-Khushnawīsān” (The Life of Calligraphers) on the basis of prose information of Bakhtāwar Khān, therefore it seemed much praised to publish them together. The life of calligraphers in Mirāt-al-‘Ālam is more known as “Tadhkira-i-Khattātān” and in the manuscript used too, it is introduced as “Tadhkira-i-Khattātīn”. But as Bakhtāwar Khān himself has named this work as “Ahwāl-i-Khattātān”, this name looked more appropriate. This part of the book Mirāt-al-‘Ālam has been edited on the basis of two texts: one is the printed text of Lahore (printed in 1979 A.D.) and the second one is the Sālār Jung Museum’s manuscript with the epigraph:کتبه حقیر شیرین‌رقم (scribed by the humble Shīrīn Raqam). For the sake of more benefiting of the readers and literary men the photographs of the said calligraphers works which are available today have been annexed at the end to complete this book. These photographs have been mostly taken from the original works and most of them are being published for the first time and the publication of famous works which have been printed time and again has been avoided. The minute specifications of each work have also been given in the list of photographs.