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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy

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Levha (panel) in honor of Imam 'Ali

AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: Farid al-Din

CREATED/PUBLISHED
19th century (?)

NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 23.4 (w) x 15.1 (h) cm

Script: various

This single panel praises Muhammad's son-in-law 'Ali and his famous double-edged sword Dhu al-Fiqar, which he inherited from the Prophet, with the topmost statement executed in black ink: "There is no victory except 'Ali [and] there is no sword except Dhu al-Fiqar" (la fath ila 'Ali, la sayf ila Dhu al-Fiqar). The vocalization for this proclamation is executed in red ink.

Immediately below the inscription eulogizing 'Ali appear several lines executed in red (vocalized in blue ink), blue (vocalized in red ink), and black (vocalized in red ink) praising the Imam, the Prophet Muhammad, and God. The four diagonal lines executed in blue ink provide a supplementary eulogistic quatrain in honor of a ruler by drawing a parallel to the great Persian kings Jamshid and Feridun.

In the lower right corner, the artist Farid al-Din has signed his work with the expression katabahu Farid al-Din ("Farid al-Din wrote this"). Unfortunately, this single calligraphic panel (levha or lawha) is not dated. As levhas are typical of 19th-century Turkish calligraphic traditions, it is quite possible that this piece was executed at the time for a patron with Shi'i inclinations either in Turkey or Iran.

Executed on a thick beige piece of paper, the calligraphic panel is provided with a frame decorated with painted gold flower motifs. The right and left vertical borders show vestigial traces of white-and-blue marble (ebru or abri) paper, suggesting that the panel at one time was pasted onto a sheet of marble paper and included in an album of calligraphies.

SUBJECT
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Islamic manuscripts
Islamic calligraphy
Arabic script calligraphy
Arabic calligraphy

MEDIUM
26.2 (w) x 17.3 (h) cm

CALL NUMBER
1-84-154.18

REPOSITORY
Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division, Washington, D.C. 20540

DIGITAL ID
ascs 062
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.062

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