Fragmentary Cenotaph Cover with Calligraphic Inscriptions

Fragment of a Tomb Cover

The religious inscriptions and invocations, repeated in sequence in this fragment, are woven in white onto a red ground within chevron bands of varying sizes. In the widest band, beginning second from the top, the Shahada, or Muslim profession of faith, is found:

There is no god but God; Muhammad is the Prophet of God

In the sequential bands thereafter come:

Glory be to God and with his praise; glory be to God the great; O Benefactor; O all-Merciful [in vase-shaped finials];

O Sultan [in circular medallions]

We have seen thee turning thy face about in Heaven; Now We will surely turn thee to a direction that shall satisfy thee. Turn thy face towards the Holy Mosque. The last lines are the beginning of verse 114 of Sura 2, the Cow.

The use of silk for a tomb cover may be an allusion or symbolic reference to those believers who dwell in Paradise. There are three references in the Koran to the raiments of silk that will clothe those who are admitted to the gardens of paradise.

Carolyn Kane in [Berlin 1981]

Inscription: Inscribed in Arabic:
1. Shahada: There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet
2. Glory be to God and with his praise; glory be to God the great
3. O Benefactor (in upright vase-shaped forms)
4. O Sultan (row of small medallions)
5. O All-Merciful (in reversed vase-shaped forms)
6. Qur'an, Sura II, part of verse 144 (The Cow): Indeed we see the turning of your face to heaven, so we shall surely turn you to a qibla which you shall like. Turn then your face towards the sacred mosque...

Indjoudjian Frères, Paris (until 1908; gifted to MMA)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Balcony Calligraphy Exhibition," June 1–October 26, 2009, no catalogue.

"Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York." In The Arts of Islam. Berlin, 1981. no. 114, pp. 268–69, ill. (b/w).