A leaf of Persian poetry with finely-illuminated floral borders, apparently from the Golzar-e Ibrahim and Dibacheh-ye Khan-e Khalil by Zahiri Torshizi, a poet active at the court of Sultan Ibrahim II 'Adil Shah at Bijapur Deccan, Golconda, circa 1620-30A leaf of Persian poetry with finely-illuminated floral borders, apparently from the Golzar-e Ibrahim and Dibacheh-ye Khan-e Khalil by Zahiri Torshizi, a poet active at the court of Sultan Ibrahim II 'Adil Shah at Bijapur Deccan, Golconda, circa 1620-30Persian manuscript on paper, text written diagonally in nasta'liq script in black ink in two columns, inner margins ruled in gold, blue and black, wide outer borders decorated with fine naturalistic floral and foliate motifs, and birds amidst the foliage, in gouache outlined in gold, verso text as recto but with headings and underlinings in red ink text area 152 x 81 mm.; leaf 258 x 158 mm.ProvenancePrivate UK collection: acquired by the seller's brother before 1986.Two leaves, from a Diwan of Anwari, very probably from the same manuscript, appeared at Christie's (Islamic Art and Manuscripts, 14th October 2003, lot 135).Similar floral and foliate borders, with outlines in gold, can be seen on two leaves (once a double-page illuminated frontispiece) ascribed to Golconda, circa 1630 (see P. Pal, Indian Painting, Los Angeles 1993, pp. 340-341, no. 104). Pal compares the decoration of these leaves with those in a manuscript of the Fawaid-i-Qub-Shahi, compiled for Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah of Golconda, and dated AH 1039/AD 1629-30 (in the National Museum, New Delhi). A section of seven leaves from this manuscript was in the collection of E. Binney 3rd (see Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd: The Mughal and Deccani Schools, Portland 1973, p. 149, no. 125, one leaf illustrated).It appears that one side of the leaf bears parts of Golzar-e Ibrahim and Dibacheh-ye Khan-e Khalil by Zahiri Torshizi, a Persian poet who moved to India and found his way to the court of Ibrahim II 'Adil Shah in Bijapur, where he wrote these texts in his praise. The poet (full name Mulla Nur-al-Din Muḥammad Zahiri Torshizi, d. 1616) came from rural Khorasan. In his early thirties, he left Khorasan for Yazd, where he joined the court of Ğiāṯ-al-Din Moḥammad Mir-e Mirān and the literary coterie headed by Vaḥši Bāfqi. About five years later, Ẓohuri moved to Shiraz, where he also moved in literary circles. He spent seven years there, and then migrated to India in 1580.Settling in the Deccan, he entered the service of the Neẓāmšāhis in Ahmadnagar during the last years of the reign of Mortażā I (reg. 1565-88). In addition to his patrons in Ahmadnagar, Ẓohuri was in contact with a number of officials of the Mughal court, especially the poet laureate Abu'l-Fayż Fayżi. For more on the poet, see iranicaonline.org/articles/zohuri-torshizi.See M. Zebrowski, Deccani Painting, London 1983, p. 68 and 70 in particular, and for Sultan Ibrahim 'Adil Shah II as patron of the arts in general, ch. 4, pp. 67-121. See Bonhams, India in Art, 7th June 2022, lot 23, for a Deccani miniature with a calligraphic page on the reverse consisting of verses composed by the Sultan and probably copied at Bijapur.