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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.
Bashar al-Assad (born 11 Sept 1965) is president of the Syrian Arab Republic and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. He became president in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled Syria for 29 years.
This Arabic 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 in 'Ali [and] there is no sword except Dhu al-Fiqar' (la fath ila 'Ali, la sayf ila Dhu al-Fiqar).
The majority of the soldiers in the Syrian armed forces are Alawites, like President Bashar Al-Assad. Alawites make up 7 percent of the Syrian population but are estimated to make up 70 percent of the career soldiers in the Syrian army. Of the 200,000 or so career soldiers in the Syrian army 140,000 are Alawites. A similar imbalance is seen in the officer corps where some 80 percent of the officers are Alawites. The military’s most elite division, the Republican Guard, and the 4th Mechanized Division are exclusively Alawite.
The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris, are a prominent mystical and syncretic religious group centred in Syria who constitute a branch of Shia Islam. Distinct Alawi beliefs include the belief that prayers are not necessary, they do not fast, perform pilgrimage, nor have specific places of worship. Traditionally Alawis live in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains along the Mediterranean coast of Syria. Latakia and Tartous are the region's principal cities. Alawis are also concentrated in the plains around Hama and Homs.<br/><br/> Today Alawis also live in all major cities of Syria. They are estimated to constitute slightly less than 10% of the Syrian population (which would be about 2 million people in 2010).
Hafez al-Assad (6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was the president of Syria for three decades. Assad's rule was praised for consolidating the power of the central government after decades of coups and counter-coups. He also drew criticism for repressing his own people, in particular for ordering the Hama massacre of 1982, which has been described as the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East. Human Rights groups have detailed thousands of extra-judicial executions he committed against opponents of his regime. He was succeeded by his son, Bashar al-Assad, in 2000.