Red Hilye

*This product is shipped unframed. 

Title: Red Hilye Year: 2010

Medium: Ink, hot tempera, four alloys of gold on ahar paper

Script: Sulus, Nesih, and Muhakkak

Image size: 37 x 25.5”

Interpretation:
Top line, in Muhakkak script: In the name of God, Whose mercy is comprehensive, Whose mercy is specific. Text in circular portion, in Nesih script: Ali [son-in-law of the Prophet], may God be pleased with him, when he would describe the Prophet, peace be upon him, would say: He was not too tall and attenuated, nor was he excessively short. He was medium sized. His hair was not short and curly, nor was it lank, but it was smooth and wavy. His face was not narrow, nor was it fully round, but there was a roundness to it. His skin was a ruddy white. His eyes were black. He had long eyelashes. He was big-boned and had wide shoulders. He had no body hair except in the middle of his chest. He had thick hands and feet. When he walked, he walked inclined, as if descending a slope. When he looked at someone, he looked at them in full face. This section is surrounded by the names of the Prophet’s principal companions, who were later to be the first four caliphs (successors): Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. The central line, in Sulus script, from the Qur’an: And truly [Muhammad] you are of an exalted nature. Bottom section, in Nesih script: Between his shoulders was the seal of prophecy, the sign that he was the last of the prophets. He was the most generous of men and the most open-hearted of them, the most truthful of them in speech, the most mild-tempered of them, and the most generous of them in regard to his companions. Whoever saw him uexpectedly was in awe of him. And whoever associated with him familiarly, loved him. Anyone who would describe him would say, I never saw, before him or after him, the like of him. Peace be upon him. This ends the text of the Hilye itself. It is followed by: Related by Imam At-Tirmidhi. O God, have mercy on our master Muhammad. Grant him peace and bless him. He is the light of guidance and the guide to what is good, the Prophet of mercy and the messenger of the Lord of the Worlds. Mohamed Zakariya wrote it, one of the students of Hafiz Hasan Celebi. May God have mercy on them. 1430 A.H.  

Signature: Signed and dated by the artist