The inscription shows it to be a gravestone commemorating in Arabic thuluth "Shahab al-Haqq wa'l-Din Mu'izz al-Islam wa'l-Milla 'Ali Muzaffar may his victory be glorified, who died in his prime of life at the age of twenty-four on the first day of the month of Rajab I in the year 635". Within the framing band is contained sura 41, verse 30.

A similar piece was offered at Sotheby's, Islamic Works of Art, 12th October, 1982, p. 18, lot 12. While our tile comprises the lower half of a tile panel, the Sotheby's piece is an upper half featuring a mihrab arch. The two pieces are comparable in the use of plain cobalt blue glaze, the style and arrangement of the naskh inscriptions and general layout. Both are, however, different in width (the Sotheby's piece being larger by 2cm) and hence do not appear to have once belonged together. The Sotheby piece had a weaker blue tone of glaze and was also in poor condition.