Title: Amulet with a Hilyah
Date: 19th century
Location: Ottoman Turkey or India
Materials: yellow chalcedony; one side finely wheel cut, the other wheel and point cut
Dimensions: 4.3 x 3 x 0.6cm
Accession Number: TLS 1903
Other Notes:
One side of the amulet or talisman has the Hilyah, or a description of the Prophet Muhammad, giving his physical characteristics and something of his behavior and temperament. Above it are the names of the Companions of the Cave, the ashab al-kahf mentioned (though not named) in the surah al-Kahf (XVIII). The other side is engraved with Qur’anic verses from surahs al-Anbiya‘ (XXI), parts of verse 87, al-Saf (LXI), parts of verse 13, al-Ikhlas (CXII), and the Ayat al-Kursi (‘Throne verse’) from the surah al-Baqarah (II), verse 255.
Script:
inscribed in naskh script
Bibliography:
N.F. Safwat, The Art of the Pen. Calligraphy of the 14th to 20th Centuries, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume V, London 1996, cat.24, pp.46–7.
Zoom
Close
