Page 74 - Azərbaycan xalçaları

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On the middle field of this carpet, which was devoted to the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Nizami Ganjavi’s poem
“Kosrow and Shirin,” various fragments from the poem are depicted.
On the carpet, Khosrow is depicted on a horseback. His weapon and clothes show that he is going hunting. On the pre-
text of hunting, Khosrow comes to Shirin’s castle. There are two women depicted on the carpet. According to the writings,
the woman at the top is Shirin and the one near the horse is her maid. Shirin has a bouquet of flowers in her hand and the
maid is holding Shirin’s gift for Khosrow. Shirin looks at Khosrow through the window of her castle. The buildings on the
upper right corner suggest that it was a flourishing city. The crown on Khosrow’s head shows that this meeting occurred
during his reign, following his father Hormuz’s death. The pictures of a tree, a medallion, and a fish show that the castle
was located in a beautiful garden.
In the center of the carpet is written, “Khosrow visiting Shirin’s Castle.”
The following inscriptions are written inside the main and minor borders, clockwise from right to left in “nastaligh.”
After the wise maid went
out, pretty Shirin started
to speak.
The maid hung the
photo in Shirin’s garden,
and then went out after
bringing Khosrow inside.
After looking at Shirin’s
beautiful image, they left.
Shirin has adorned
herself nicely. She was
as sweet as sugar and as
nice as the scent of a rose.
Shirin was shining like
the moon. She sent him
fine drinking liqueur.
Later Shirin adorned
herself as if the Sun was
uncovered.
She wore a red silk dress
and arranged her hair.
She curled her hair and
the curly hair had its
own beauty. Each curl
resembled a separate
world.
She adorned herself as
if somebody else had
decorated her.
Her black hair shone as
the moon.
He arrived at the castle
entrance and bent down
to kiss the ground. He
respected his shah as a
slave.
He removed the earrings
from her ears and seeing
the earrings, the horse
Shabdiz’s tail blushed.
Khosrow saw Shirin and
due to her beauty, there
appeared a garden of flow-
ers in his heart.
There appeared a paradise
before his eyes while sitting
in her castle. He saw Para-
dise while living.
Shirin’s love made his
soul so calm. His heart
was full of love and he
wanted to die of love.
He couldn’t wait, stood up,
kissed her hand, and then
sat down.
He started to speak nicely
and asked Shirin his delight-
ful questions.
He said to her: You are as
high as a cypress tree and as
fresh. You have rosy cheeks
and a happy heart.
The world smiles at you like
a light and the skies are as
great as you.
This happiness refreshed
my heart. I was embarrassed
when I saw you.