Spouted Vessel with Qur'anic Verses and the Names of the Shi'a Imams

Spouted Vessel

Set into one of only two known spouted vessels of this baluster shape, the inscriptions in the roundels provide the names of the Shi‘a imams.[1] Other inscriptions quote the Qur’an while the spout declares the Shi‘a credo of the Nadi ‘Aliyan (call to ‘Ali).

Navina Najat Haidar in (Haidar and Sardar 2015)

Footnotes:

1- See Sotheby’s "The Stuart Cary Welch Collection. Part 1, Arts of the Islamic World." Sale cat. Sotheby’s, London, April 6, 2011a, p. 176, lot 141, for the other spouted vessel, which was decorated with bands of calligraphic ornament.

Inscription: Interior: On the bottom part of verse 159 of chapter 3 of Qur'an in Naskhi script written as

On the circle:
فبما ةحمة من الله انت لهم و لو كنت فظا غليظ القلب
In the center:
لانفظوا من حولك
“So by mercy from Allah, ‘O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you”
Inside on the rim Arabic poem of Nad Aliyyan written as:
ناد عليا مظهر العجائب
تجده عونا لك في النوانب
كل هم و غم سينجلى
بنبوتك يا محمد بولايتك يا على يا على
Outside
On the rim, chapter 112 “al’Ikhlas” written as:
And continuing with:
O Self-Sufficient One, O God, O Mohammad, O ‘Ali, Support [me]
On the spot
On the two sides part of verse 64 of chapter 12 (yusuf) of Qur’an written as [see purchase files]
“But Allah is the best guardian, and He is the most merciful”
On the body, names of twelve Imams has written, the name of the second name of the Shi’a Imams “Husai” is missing and there was no space to write the name of the twelfth Imam. There is an error (not enough space) in the name of eighth Imam Ali Ibn Musa al-Rida, which is wrote as "Imam Musa al-Rida", the names written as [see purchase files]:
Imam Ali al-Murtada 'Alayhi al-salam, Imam Ali Hasan al-Mujtaba 'Alayhi al-salam, Imam Zain al-'ibad 'Alayhi al-salam, Imam Mohammad al-Maqir 'Alayhi al-salam, Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq 'Alayhi al-salam, Imam Musa al-Kazim 'Alayhi al-salam, Imam Musa al-Rida 'Alayhi al-salam, Imam Mohammad al-Taqi 'Alayhi al-salam, Imam Ali al-Naqi 'Alayhi al-salam, Imam Hasan al-'Askari 'Alayhi al-salam.

Down
Part of verse 13 of Chapter 61 (al-Saff) of Qur'an written as [see purchase files]: In the name of Allah (God), most gracious and most merciful Victory from Allah and an imminent conquest; and give good tidings to the believers.
And continuing by [see purchase files]: Mohammad Ali support [me]

Private Collection, Israel (from 1960s; to Renard); [ Alexis Renard, Paris, until 2014; sold to MMA]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Sultans of Deccan India, 1500–1700: Opulence and Fantasy," April 20–July 26, 2015, no. 159.

Renard, Alexis. "September 9–30, 2014." In Ecritures Magiques, Calligraphies du Monde Musulman. Paris, 2014. no. 16.

Haidar, Navina, and Marika Sardar. "Opulence and Fantasy." In Sultans of Deccan India 1500–1700. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015. no. 159, pp. 266–67, ill. (color).