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This levha panel praises Muhammad's son-in-law 'Ali and his famous double-edged sword Dhu al-Fiqar, which he inherited from the Prophet, with the topmost statement executed in black ink: 'There is no victory except 'Ali [and] there is no sword except Dhu al-Fiqar' (la fath ila 'Ali, la sayf ila Dhu al-Fiqar). The vocalization for this proclamation is executed in red ink.<br/><br/> Immediately below the inscription eulogizing 'Ali appear several lines executed in red (vocalized in blue ink), blue (vocalized in red ink), and black (vocalized in red ink) praising the Imam, the Prophet Muhammad, and God. The four diagonal lines executed in blue ink provide a supplementary eulogistic quatrain in honor of a ruler by drawing a parallel to the great Persian kings Jamshid and Feridun.<br/><br/> In the lower right corner, the artist Farid al-Din has signed his work with the expression katabahu Farid al-Din ('Farid al-Din wrote this'). Unfortunately, this single calligraphic panel is not dated. As levhas are typical of 19th-century Turkish calligraphic traditions, it is quite possible that this piece was executed at the time for a patron with Shi'i inclinations either in Turkey or Iran.
According to the Shia tradition, Muhammad formally designated his son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib (the Caliph Ali) as his successor at the oasis of Gadir Khum, located mid-way between the holy cities of Mecca / Makkah and Medina, in the Arabian Hijaz. The Sunni tradition disputes this event ever took place.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.
Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب) was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam.<br/><br/> Sunni Muslims consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shi'a Muslims regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of whom are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad.<br/><br/> This disagreement divides the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shi'a branches. Ali is greatly revered in Shia Islam. Zulfiqar 'bifurcated' (Arabic: ذو الفقار‎ Dhū l-Fiqār) is the sword of Ali. In Arabic the name is commonly transliterated as Dhu al-Fiqar, Thulfeqar, Dhulfiqar, Zoulfikar etc.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.