The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Vertically oriented book page with Arabic text on one side and, on the other, people with light skin tones in beige, blue, orange, and yellow robes gathered in front of a building on the right and a mountainous landscape with flowering trees on the left. In the building, two people kneel facing each other, one offering the other a ring-like object. The remaining people surround them, many looking at or gesturing to them.

Yusuf and Zulaykha (recto); Text Page, Persian Verses (verso)

c. 1556–65

Iran, Shiraz or Mashhad, Safavid period

(1501-1722)
opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper
Sheet: 29.8 x 17.3 cm (11 3/4 x 6 13/16 in.); Image: 21.3 x 15.3 cm (8 3/8 x 6 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1947.501
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Beyond the fence, a man is shoveling.

Description

The Khamsa, a suite of five poems (khamsa is Arabic for five) written in the twelfth century, was, like the earlier Shahnama, concerned with the history and legends of pre-Islamic Iran. But Nizami's interest was with love rather than war. In this, the second of the poems, he tells the story of famous star-crossed lovers.
  • ?–1947
    (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1947–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Neils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 6 (1985): 326–359. Mentioned: no. 26, p. 357 www.jstor.org
  • The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).
  • {{cite web|title=Yusuf and Zulaykha (recto); Text Page, Persian Verses (verso)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1556–65|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1947.501