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Manuscript/Mixed Material Hilye mounted on a wooden panel

About this Item

Title

  • Hilye mounted on a wooden panel

Names

  • Dihya Salim al-Fahim

Created / Published

  • 1130/1718

Headings

  • -  Calligraphy, Arabic
  • -  Calligraphy, Ottoman
  • -  Manuscripts, Arabic--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  Turkey
  • -  Arabic script calligraphy
  • -  Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Islamic calligraphy
  • -  Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Naskh
  • -  Thuluth

Notes

  • -  Hilye or calligraphic panel mounted on a wooden panel, with a physical description of the Prophet Muhammad, was made in 1130/1718 in the Galata Palace, Istanbul, by the calligrapher Dihya Salim al-Fahim written in Thuluth and Naskh scripts.
  • -  As in this example, the typical layout of the hilye includes a top panel (bas makam, lit. top space/heading) that contains typically the bismillah, a central circle (gobek, lit. belly) that provides the physical description of the Prophet, as well as the names of the first four caliphs in the corners of the hilye panel. Below the central circle is a horizontal panel usually containing a verse from the Qur'an (21:107). At the very bottom appears a rectangular panel (etek, lit. skirt) that continues the hilye text, followed by the calligrapher's name and date of execution (see Gunuc 1999: 76-77).
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface in center (hilye): 10.9 (w) x 21.9 (h) cm. Dimensions of Written Surface in side panels: 3.2 (w) x 17.2 (h) cm
  • -  The hilye was a favorite composition of Ottoman artists and patrons, as it provided a calligraphic praise of the Prophet easily hung in private homes, theological schools, etc. Also known as hilye-i serif (noble description), hilye-i saadet (description of felicity), and hilye-i nebevi (the prophetic description), this non-figurative 'portrait' of Muhammad was widespread and appreciated especially during the 17th and 18th centuries (Derman 2002, 33).
  • -  The two side panels include checkerboards that list the Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God (al-asma' al-husna). Other hilyes, such as one composed by the famous calligrapher Hafiz Osman (dated 1110/1698), also contain God's names, as well as the epithets (alqab) of the Prophet Muhammad (Derman 2002: 96-7). Much like the verbal description of the Prophet in the central panel, the names of God on the side panels are intended to represent the unity of his being (wahdat al-wujud) in a verbal, non-pictorial manner.
  • -  This hilye, or calligraphic panel containing a physical description of the Prophet Muhammad, was made in 1130/1718 in the Galata Palace (Saray Galata), Istanbul, by the calligrapher Dihya Salim al-Fahim, a pupil of Yusuf Efendi. He dated and signed his work in a now barely legible inscription executed in white ink on a gold ground in the lowermost rectangular register of the center panel.
  • -  This particular hilye stands out, as it is mounted on a wooden board and provided with side panels that fold in much like a Christian triptych. Perhaps drawing inspiration from practices of icon making in Christian Constantinople/Istanbul, hilyes such as this one transformed a pictorial portrait of a saint into a calligraphic description of the Prophet Muhammad. There are a number of other 18th-century hilyes pasted onto wooden panels as well (see Safwat 1996: 54-55; Alparslan 2004: 133-4; and TvIEM 1993, pl. 38).
  • -  Script: thuluth and naskh
  • -  1-88-154.13

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 39 (w) x 17.9 (h) cm

Repository

  • Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714648

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of Congress Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, African and Middle East Division, Near East Section Persian Manuscript Collection

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Dihya Salim Al-Fahim. Hilye Mounted on a Wooden Panel. /1718, 1718. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714648/.

APA citation style:

Dihya Salim Al-Fahim. (1718) Hilye Mounted on a Wooden Panel. /1718. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714648/.

MLA citation style:

Dihya Salim Al-Fahim. Hilye Mounted on a Wooden Panel. /1718, 1718. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714648/>.