The main text is from the romance titled "Kheradnameh-ye Eskandari" ("The Alexandrian Book of Wisdom"). The text on the recto (dark brown borders) describes the grief of Alexander's followers upon his death and the preparations for his funeral--Alexander's body was washed in musk and rosewater and his shroud and the fittings of his gold coffin were made from precious silks. The verso (orange-colored borders) contains the first of ten lamentations of a group of sages who reflect on the lessons to draw from the life of Alexander. The chapter heading in gold nasta‘liq reads: "nodbeh-ye hakim-e avval" ("Lamentation of the First Sage").

In the margins are verses from a separate 'masnavi,' "Salaman va Absal." It tells the story of the love of Salaman, the son of the king of Greece, for his wet-nurse, Absal. As their love is forbidden by the king, the couple decided to end their lives by leaping into a fire. While the nurse dies, the inconsolable Salaman survives. He is eventually cured of his love for Absal by a sage who repeatedly shows him an image of Venus with whom he falls in love. In this way, Salaman becomes worthy of the throne and takes his father’s place. At this point in the narrative Salaman is cured of his love for Absal and is handed the kingdom by his father.

[Translated by Will Kwiatkowski and provided by Simon Ray.]

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