Hilyah, with Four Certificates of Calligraphic Merit

Other Notes: hilyah in muhaqqaq, thulth and naskh

Script:

This finely illuminated  hilyah (hilye-i sherife) is in effect an examination piece, submitted by the calligrapher, a woman by the name of Sahrifah Aminah Tharwat, who was a daughter of al-sayyid Hasan Khayrallah Effendi the Imam Awwal of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz. The four panels at the bottom of the piece bear licences permitting her to sign as a traditionally trained and accomplished calligrapher (ijazah bi-wad‘ al-kitbah). This meant that she could sign her work using the verb kataba (‘written by’), a term which – in the Ottoman world at least – was restricted to licensed scribes. And although Sahrifah Aminah Tharwat has not signed this work,her name – as the licencee – appears in each of the four certificates.
 
The first ijazah was awarded by sayyid ‘Izzet Mustafa, and is dated AH 1291 (AD 1974).
The second  ijazah was awarded by ‘Ali Rida, a pupil of shaykh Sulayman Wahbi, and is dated 18 Safar 1291 (26 March 1874).
The third ijazah was awarded by Muhammad Shafiq, calligpahy teacher at the Royal Conservatory, a pupil of al-sayyid al-hajj Mustafa ‘Izzat, ra’ias al-‘ulama’ and naqib al-ashraf, and is also dated AH1291.
The fourth ijazah was awarded by al-sayyid ‘Abdallah Hamdi grandson of the former Sadr-i (A‘zam) Muhsin Zadeh Muhammd Pasha, a pupil of al-hajj Mustafa ‘Izzet currently naqib al-ashraf and ra’ias al-‘ulama’.
For the hilyah, see CAL 459.