Verso:

Left: 

A verse by the medieval Sufi poet Amir Khusraw Dihlavi referring to a wine party, written on marbled paper decorated with gold illumination:

ایام گلست باده باید
ساقی و حریف ساده باید
گر غنچه گره بر ابرو افکند
پیشانی گل گشاده باید

Signed: 'The sinner, Muhammad Husayn'.

Intoxicated dervishes by Bhagvati

Although the verse refers the joys of drinking, the image suggests the joys of intoxication by other means. Seven men sit in a circle outside a cabin: they appear dazed as parrots perch on their hands and shoulders and pull their clothes. At the bottom right, one of then men takes a swig from a communal bowl. The drink it contains is bhang, made from ground cannabis leaves mixed with milk and spices. It is imbibed by sufis in attempt to open the mind and achieve a state of ecstasy. The parrots act as a visual pun, the 'green parrot' or the 'parrot of mysteries' being a euphemism for bhang in Sufi poetry.  

Top right and bottom left:

Verse by Hafiz written on pale sand coloured paper decorated with gold flecks. 

رسید مژده که آمد بهار و سبزه دمید / وظیفه گر برسد مصرفش گل است و نبید

مکن ز غصه شکایت که در طریق طلب / به راحتی نرسید آن که زحمتی نکشید

 

Bottom right:


Verse by Hafiz written on pale sand coloured paper decorated with gold flecks.

عجایب ره عشق ای رفیق بسیار است / ز پیش آهوی این دشت، شیر نر بدوید

 

Recto:

Unidentified quatrain written on pale brown coloured paper decorated with large gold flecks.

Signed: 'The poor, sinful slave, Muhammad Husayn. May God pardon his sins.'