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Lot Essay
The interior walls of the Shrine of the Prophet Muhammad (rawda) in the Masjid al-Nabi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Al-Madina were covered in textiles similar to those of the Ka'ba in Mecca. However, unlike the Meccan Kiswa, they were changed considerably less frequently than once a year and were most probably produced in Ottoman Turkey rather than Egypt.
The present piece is in the rococo style then in vogue in Istanbul. It was made for the wall facing the room where the Prophet Muhammad is buried in Al-Madina
A very similar curtain is in the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul (no.64). Almost every decorative detail is the same, although in the present piece there are areas of coloured silk ground in the inscription panels. (Hulya Tezcan, Al-astar al-Haramayn, Istanbul, 1996, pl.52, p.131).
The inscriptions read as follows, from the top
In the small right hand roundel: qala alayhi salam/"The Prophet- Peace be upon Him- said"
In the rectangular panel: man zara qabri wajabat lahu sha'ati/"He who visits my grave, I will intercede for him"
In the left hand roundel: sadaqa rasulu 'llah/"so spoke verily the Prophet of God"
Lower down in the two larger roundels, the right hand one reads: law wlaka lawlak/"Were it not for thee..." The left hand roundel lama khuliqat al aflak "...the stars would not have been born"
Between these two roundels is an ovoid cartouche with mirrored thuluth, (sura al-nur):35 allah nur al samawat wa al-ard/"God is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth"
The present piece is in the rococo style then in vogue in Istanbul. It was made for the wall facing the room where the Prophet Muhammad is buried in Al-Madina
A very similar curtain is in the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul (no.64). Almost every decorative detail is the same, although in the present piece there are areas of coloured silk ground in the inscription panels. (Hulya Tezcan, Al-astar al-Haramayn, Istanbul, 1996, pl.52, p.131).
The inscriptions read as follows, from the top
In the small right hand roundel: qala alayhi salam/"The Prophet- Peace be upon Him- said"
In the rectangular panel: man zara qabri wajabat lahu sha'ati/"He who visits my grave, I will intercede for him"
In the left hand roundel: sadaqa rasulu 'llah/"so spoke verily the Prophet of God"
Lower down in the two larger roundels, the right hand one reads: law wlaka lawlak/"Were it not for thee..." The left hand roundel lama khuliqat al aflak "...the stars would not have been born"
Between these two roundels is an ovoid cartouche with mirrored thuluth, (sura al-nur):35 allah nur al samawat wa al-ard/"God is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth"