This elaborate manuscript is not only indicative of the great popularity of Jāmi, but it also shows the liberal patronage which existed for all works of art under the princes of the house of Timūr. The grave of Jāmi is at Herāt, where he was laid[[281]] at the age of eighty-one years, and this illustrious name completes the list of the seven great poets of Persia who have been called “The Persian Pleiades.”
THE WORKS OF JĀMI.
Although this author was a voluminous writer, still his most important works may be briefly summarized; there is a book on ethics and education containing anecdotes and fables, written both in prose and verse, after the manner adopted by Sā’-dī, and like the Gūlistān, it is divided into eight chapters.
One of his books, entitled “Irshad” or “Instructions,” was dedicated to a Turkish Sultan—Al Fāteh, “The Conqueror.” “The Seven Thrones” is considered by an eminent native critic[[282]] to combine the most exquisite compositions in the Persian language, except the “Five Poems” of the celebrated Nizāmī. The seven gems which are thus alluded to bear the following titles: (1) The Chain of Gold; (2) Selmān and Absāl; (3) The Present of the Just; (4) The Rosary; (5) The Loves of Lailī and Majnūn; (6) Yūsuf and Zulaikhā; (7) The Book of Alexander the Great.
The character of Jāmi’s style may be represented by the following extract from Yūsuf and Zulaikhā, which is a description of the reception of a Persian bride at an Egyptian court:
RECEPTION.
With a drum of gold the bright firmament beat
At morn the signal for night’s retreat.
The stars with the night at the coming of day
Broke up their assembly and passed away.