Panel of al-Khatun (the lady) Fatima bint Zahir al-Din

Tombstone of al-Khatum Fatima bint Zahir al-Din

Although carved stones of this type have been identified as grave markers, aspects of the form and inscriptions of this example suggest that it is instead a flat mihrab.[2] The hadith and Qur’anic inscriptions focus on prayer and doing good deeds and make no mention of Paradise, which is often found on tombstones. More importantly, inscriptions on gravestones usually mention the tomb, qabr, in addition to the name of the deceased and the date of his or her death, all of which are absent here. Here the name of the woman who ordered the stone, Al-Khatun Fatima bint Zahir al-Din, appears on the lintel, between the two vase-shaped capitals of the large engaged columns, indicating that she donated the stele, most likely to a preexisting building.[3] Whether that structure was a shrine, mausoleum, or mosque cannot be determined, because the only information known about the Iranian provenance of the piece is that it was sold by an art dealer in the southern city of Ahvaz, near the head of the Persian Gulf.

The slab consists of a frame with a Qur’anic inscription on three sides and a band of lobed palmette leaves along the bottom. The writing on the top line is twice as high as on the sides and contains certain stylistic flourishes such as the elongated, angled alif and raa of al-nahar. These embellishments correspond to the exaggerated forms of the new-style script that came to characterize numerous Seljuq Qur’ans.[4] More noteworthy are the four recessed arches within the inscriptional frame, each in a different shape, with the final small keel arch containing a hanging lamp. As discussed elsewhere[5], the lamp is more than a general symbol of God’s radiance. Rather, it represents the innermost chamber of a tomb, where the person who is commemorated is buried and whose path to heaven will be illuminated by God’s light.

Sheila R. Canby in [Canby, Beyazit, and Rugiadi 2016]

Footnotes:

2- Fehervari, Geza, "Tombstone or Mihrab? A Speculation." In Ettinghausen, Richard, ed. Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1972., pp. 247; Khoury, Nuha N. N. "The Mihrab Image: Commemorative Themes in Medieval Islamic Architecture." Muqarnas 9, 1992, p. 16.

3- Khoury, Nuha N. N., "The Mihrab Image: Commemorative Themes in Medieval Islamic Architecture."Muqarnas 9, 1992, p. 17, ill. p. 16, fig. 6.

4- Deroche, Francois. The Abbasid Tradition: Qur’ans of the 8th to the 10th Centuries AD. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, edited by Julian Raby, vol. 1. London and Oxford, 1992, p. 136, N.S. 1 and N.S. 3.

5- Khoury, Nuha N. N., "The Mihrab Image: Commemorative Themes in Medieval Islamic Architecture."Muqarnas 9, 1992, pp. 15–22.


Stone Panel

This deeply carved marble panel presents a complex decorative program. The Kufic script, showing different sizes and slightly mixed styles, runs on three sides of the frame, inside the large pointed arch, and on the lintel; on the lobed, cusped arch the calligraphy is instead naskhi (cursive). The architectural element, resting on columns, represents a mihrab (prayer niche set on the wall facing Mecca), easily identified by the mosque lantern hanging in the innermost arch at the bottom of the panel. The impression of receding planes is given by the arch-inside-arch pattern (pointed, cusped, segmented, pointed again) and by the shell-like (or perhaps pseudo-vegetal) semi-dome below the outmost arch. The inscriptions read: (frame) "In the name of God the Clement, the Merciful. And keep up prayer in the two parts of the day / and in the first hours of the night. Surely good deeds / take away evil deeds: this is a reminder to the mindful" (Qur'an XI:114); (pointed arch) "Busy yourself with prayer and be not among the heedless and serve your Lord, rich in ....(?)"; (lintel) "al-Khatun (the Lady) Fatima bint Zahir al-Din ordered it"; (cusped arch) "Certainly Allah is with those who do good" (Qur'an XVI:128). The content of the inscription suggests that this panel, ordered by a yet unidentified woman, was once set on the qibla wall (facing Mecca) of a religious building, on one side of the main mihrab situated in the middle. This panel is said to have come from a cemetery near Nihavand in Iran; for this reason, it was previously thought to be a tombstone although its inscriptions do not mention any deceased person.

Stefano Carboni in [Walker et al. 1994]

Inscription: On outer frame in Arabic and Kufic script:
And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember (Qur’an 11:114; Sura Hud)

On the pointed arch the Hadith continues with Qur’an 15:99 (Sura al-Hajar):
اقبل علی صلاتک و لا تکن من الغافلین
And worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty (death)

On the lintel under the scalloped conch:
امرت به الخاتون فاطمة بنت ظهیر الدین
Al-Khatun Fatima, daughter of Zahir al-Din ordered this

On trifoil arch Qur’an 16:128 (Sura al-Nahl):
Indeed, Allah is with those who fear Him and those who are doers of good

(Read by Abdullah Ghouchani, 2010)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------November 2015 Alzahraa K. Ahmed reading.
English translations of the Qur’an are taken from Arthur J. Arberry’s "The Koran Interpreted" (New York, 1996).

Inscribed in Arabic in Kufic, on the outer frame:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم واقم الصلاه طرفى النهار وزلفا من الليل ان الحسنات يذهبن السيئات ذلک ذكرى للذاكرين
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful; And perform the prayer at the two ends of the day and night; surely the good deeds will drive away the evil deeds. That is a remembrance unto the mindful. (Qur’an 11:114)

On the pointed arch:
اقبل علی صلاتک\ و لا تکن من الغافلین \واعبد ربك حتى ياتيك اليقين
Concentrate on your prayer (Hadith) / and be not thou among the heedless (Qur’an 7: part of 205) / and serve thy Lord, until the certain comes to thee. (Qur’an 15:99)

On the lintel under the scalloped conch:
امرت به الخاتون فاطمة بنت ظهیر الدین
Al-Khatun Fatima, daughter of Zahir al-Din ordered this

In naskhi on the trefoil arch:
ان الله مع الذين اتقوا والذين هم محسنون
Surely God is with those who fear Him and those who are good-doers. (Qur’an 16:128)[1]

Footnotes:
1- Fehervari, Geza, “Tombstone or Mihrab? A Speculation.” In Ettinghausen, ed. 1972, pp. 245, corrects an earlier misreading of the inscription by J. M. Upton but fails to identify the hadith and one of the Qur’anic passages. The present reading, by Alzahraa K. Ahmed, Hagop Kevorkian Curatorial Fellow, Department of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is at slight variance with Fehervari’s.

[ Labnan & Co., Ahwaz, Iran, until 1931; sold to MMA]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Calligraphy West of China," March 15–May 7, 1972, no catalog.

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College. "Images of Paradise in Islamic Art," April 26, 1992–June 21, 1992.

Mexico City. Colegio de San Ildefonso. "Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York," September 30, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 91.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs," April 25–July 24, 2016, no. 201.

Bowie, Theodore Robert. "An Exhibition Prepared by Theodore Bowie." In Islamic Art Across the World. Vol. no. 1970/3. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Art Museum, June 17 to Oct. 1, 1970. no. 152, ill. p. 68, fig. 152.

Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 2nd rev. and enl. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. p. 94.

Indianapolis Museum of Art. Treasures from the Metropolitan: Catalogue of the Inaugural Exhibition of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, October 25, 1970–January 3, 1971, edited by Carl J. Weinhardt Jr. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1970. no. 89, p. 128, ill.

Fehérvári, Géza. "Tombstone or Mihrab? A Speculation." Islamic Art of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1972). pp. 242–43, ill. fig. 1 (b/w).

Denny, Walter B., A. Kevin Reinhart, and Gene R. Garthwaite. Images of Paradise in Islamic Art, edited by Sheila Blair, and Jonathan M. Bloom. Hanover, NH: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 1991. no. 32, p. 96, ill.

Khoury, Nuhan N. N. "The Mihrab Image: Commemorative Themes in Medieval Islamic Architecture." Muqarnas vol. 9 (1992). p. 16, ill. fig. 6 (b/w).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Daniel S. Walker, Arturo Ponce Guadián, Sussan Babaie, Stefano Carboni, Aimee Froom, Marie Lukens Swietochowski, Tomoko Masuya, Annie Christine Daskalakis-Matthews, Abdallah Kahli, and Rochelle Kessler. "Colegio de San Ildefonso, Septiembre de 1994–Enero de 1995." In Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1994. no. 91, pp. 226–27, ill. (b/w).

Canby, Sheila R., Deniz Beyazit, and Martina Rugiadi. "The Great Age of the Seljuqs." In Court and Cosmos. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. no. 201, p. 304, ill. (color).