Introduction
Persian literature abounds in verbal references to the use of visual ornament relative to the making of fine manuscripts: they occur in historical texts, classical treatises on calligraphy, and in poetry itself. The authors of such works were often also scribes and secretaries; calligraphers and painters were often also poets, some among the best of their times; and sometimes the poet himself was the copyist of his own divan (his compilation of poetic compositions/poetry). In this verbally permeated atmosphere, poets' concerns became ever more allied with the creative concerns of calligraphers. Such verbal concerns with the visual have characterized Persian literature as early as the 4th/10th century, the time of Ibn Muqla; especially is this so between the 9th/15th and the 12th/18th centuries. Thus the metaphorical vocabulary of visual ornament is an important feature of classical Persian poetry, occurring already in the work of Rudaki, the Samanid poet of the 4th/10th century. Yet many contemporary visual artists have little appreciation of this long Persian verbal tradition; equally, contemporary scholars of literature often do not recognize the specifically visual vocabulary in which Persian poetry is so rich. This Dictionary glosses 5505 quotations from Persian poetry that relate to the various arts of the book: paper-making and coloring, calligraphy, illumination, illustration, binding. The definition of each entry derives directly from classical sources: dictionaries, treatises on calligraphy and poetry, and poetry itself. 12,000 couplets, dating between the 3rd/9th century to the Qajar period, are each identified fully, with a bibliographical reference to text and edition. Many poetic examples--in the hundreds, in fact--are quoted here for the first time. The great majority are Safavid in date, selections of poetry written in the sabk-i Hindi, the "Indian" style of the Safavid period, especially in Isfahan, when the use of such metaphorical expressions was especially fashionable. Searching for the best examples, the author/compiler reviewed innumerable divans of poets writing in Persian: Iranians composing in their native Iran, Iranian emigres in India, and Indians in their native land. Of the 5505 entries in this Dictionary, 800 have no identifiable source but are similar, in form or meaning, to others already glossed and are therefore cross-referenced. If a quotation could not be verified historically, the author/compiler drew upon his scholarly knowledge as well as his personal calligraphic expertise. This dictionary, thus, gathers, collates, and alphabetically enters the Persian vocabulary of visual ornamentation; both phrases already noted elsewhere and much new material. Indeed, it is a truly interdisciplinary resource, not only extracting precise information from each entry but also shedding new light on an aspect of classical Persian poetry that has not heretofore been broadly appreciated. The fruit of encouragement by the late Iraj Afshar, the present work, builds upon the author/compiler's earlier publications: A Dictionary of Calligraphy and the Related Arts ( Farhang-e Vājegān va Ēstēlāhāt-e Khoshnēvīsī va Honarhāy-e Vābasteh, (1373sh/1994)), Treatises on Calligraphy ( Resālātī dar Khoshnēvīsī va Honarhāy-e Vābasteh, ( also 1373sh/1994)), and An Introduction to Persian Calligraphy ( Dar Āmadī bar Khoshnēvīsī Iranī, (1392sh/2013)). It is a major contribution to the study of Persian literature as well as to the study of the arts of the Eastern book and will be of immense use to scholars and students, in Iran and wherever the love of these materials animates our study.
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