Persian, now known as Farsi in Iran, Dari in Afghanistan, and Tajik in Tajikistan, contains all thirty-two letters of the Arabic alphabet, plus four extra letters: پ, چ, ژ, and گ. Our Persian collection features a beautiful selection of illuminated manuscripts of poetry by Saadi of Shiraz (1210-1292), Hafiz (1315-1390), Ziya al-din Nakhabi (d. 1350), and Jami (1414-1492). The Persian collection features some of the most illuminated manuscripts in the exhibit, since books of poetry were frequently allowed to have figural illuminations. The Diwan by Hafiz, for example, contains twenty-five full page illuminations and floral borders. The majority of the Persian collection was donated by Edward Sanford Burgess, but it also features some of our newest acquisitions, as yet to be studied at the University of Oregon.