Table of Contents Acknowledgments List of Illustrations Notes on Transliteration Introduction Material Culture and Mysticism in the Persianate World PART I Chapter One Silks, Signatures and Self-fashioning Khamsa Narrative Silks in Scholarship The Famous Naqshband: Unrivalled in the Art of Textile Design Craftsmen and Consumers Self-Fashioning in the Early Modern Persianate World Chapter Two Dressed as King, Lover and Beloved: Khusrau and Shirin Lovers from Nizami's >Khamsa The Romantic Tragedy of Nizami's 'Khusrau and Shirin' Khusrau and Shirin in Paintings and Safavid Silks The Gaze and the Body: States of Dress and Undress Chapter Three Weaving Stories, Weaving Self: Layla and Majnun as Sufi Icons The Mystical Love Story of Nizami's 'Layla and Majnun' Layla and Majnun in Paintings and Safavid silks The >Khamsa of Amir Khusrau Text and Textile in Sufi Poetry PART II Chapter Four The Divine Cloak of Majesty: Material Culture in Sufi Practice Garments as Gifts of Blessing, Piety and Power Chivalry, Spirituality, and Materiality in Sufism Khirqa: The Cloak of Spiritual Poverty Khamsa Silk as >Khirqa? Figural Silks in Islamic Literary Sources Enrobed: Khil'atChapter Five Mughal Dress and Spirituality: The Age of Sufi Kings Silk, Sufism and Self-Image at the Mughal Court Figural Silks from Mughal Manufactories Jahangir as King and Lover Ghiyath's Legacy at the Mughal Court Chapter Six Safavid Figural Silks in Diplomacy: Rare Textiles of Novel Design Silk as Commodity in Safavid Iran Safavid Ambassadors and Figural Silk Figural Silk as Safavid Identity: Sherley and his rivals Safavid and Mughal Gift-giving in Historical Accounts Figural Silks at the Mughal Court Conclusion Appendix A: List of Khamsa silks Appendix B: Summary, Amir Khusrau's 'Shirin and Khusrau' Appendix C: Summary, Amir Khusrau's 'Majnun and Layla' Glossary Works Cited Index.