A Muslim Pilgrim Learns a Lesson of Piety in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2019

Title: "A Muslim Pilgrim Learns a Lesson in Piety from a Brahman", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi

Author: Amir Khusrau Dihlavi (Indian, Patiyali, 1253–1325 Delhi)

Calligrapher: Muhammad Husain Kashmiri (Indian, active ca. 1560–1611)

Artist: Painting by Basawan (Indian, active ca. 1556–1600)

Date: 1597–98

Geography: Attributed to India

Medium: Image: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Margins: Gold on dyed paper

Dimensions: Overall: H. 9 7/8 in. (25.1 cm)
W. 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm)
Frame:H. 25 in. (63.5 cm)
W. 19 in. (48.3 cm)
D. 1 in. (2.5 cm)

Classification: Codices

Credit Line: Gift of Alexander Smith Cochran, 1913

Accession Number: 13.228.29

The Khamsa (Quintet) of the Indian poet Amir Khusrau Dihlavi localizes its model, the Khamsa of Nizami, by rooting several of the stories in an Indian idiom. Likewise, the illustrations made for Akbar’s (r. 1556–1605) copy are set in typically Indian landscapes. Here, a Muslim pilgrim to Mecca meets a Brahman who travels to a Hindu temple by inching his way in a series of prostrations. Impressed by this religious zeal, the Muslim removes his own shoes and continues on his way barefoot.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/446563