المؤلف
Unknown
تاريخ النشر
1305
مكان النشر
Khambhat (made) -
الموضوع
Death
النوع
أخرى
اللغة
غير محدد
رقمي
نعم
مخطوط
لا
الأبعاد الفيزيائية
Height: 108.3cm, Width: 46.2cm, Weight: 107.5kg
المكتبة
Victoria and Albert Museum
معرف أصل المكتبة
A.5-1932
رقم السجل
A.5-1932
موقع المكتبة
Middle East Section
التاريخ
1305
ملاحظات
Tombstone of carved marble, Khambhat, Gujarat, probably circa 1305.
نص عينة
Epitaph, part one: Ùذا Ùبر اÙØ´ÙØ® اÙزاÙد اÙÙرع / اÙعابد صاÙ٠اÙدÙ٠٠ختار اÙاسÙا٠٠Ø٠د ب٠أب٠بÙر / اب٠سعد اب٠عÙ٠اÙد[...] تغ٠د٠اÙÙÙ / باÙرØÙ Ø© ÙاÙرضÙا٠ÙأسÙÙÙ Ù٠دار اÙجÙات Epitaph, part two: ÙÙا٠ÙÙات٠بÙرة اÙج٠عة اÙÙ ÙÙÙ Ù Ù Ø´Ùر Ø°Ù / اÙØجة سÙØ© اربع بعد ست٠ائة ٠٠اÙÙجرة اÙÙبÙÙØ© صÙÙ[Ø©] اÙÙ٠عÙ٠صاØبÙا ٠سÙا٠٠Translation This is the grave of the ascetic, pious and reverent Shaykh Sa'in al-Din Mukhtar al-Islam Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Sa'd ibn 'Ali al-D[...] - May God cover him with mercy and favour and let him dwell in Paradise! His death took place early on Saturday, the first day of the month of Dhu'l-Hijjah in the year 4 after 600 since the Migration of the Prophet - God's blessings upon its author, and His peace! Note (1) The word shown as "al-D[...]" in the first part of the epitaph, after the name 'Ali, is almost certainly a nisbah , or epithet, derived from a geographical location. It was added or amended after the tombstone reached Dhofar, by the same hand that added the second part of the epitaph. The word is difficult to read, and it has been interpreted variously as "al-Damrini" (Guest), "al-Damrani" (Porter), and "al-Damiri" (Lambourn). (2) The year of Shaykh Muhammad's death is clearly written as سÙØ© اربع بعد ست٠ائة, "the year 4 after 600". Nevertheless, the reading given by Guest (p. 409) is سÙØ© اربع تعشر ("the year 14"), and he ignores the word ست٠ائة ("600") without explanation. Guest then translated this phrase as "714", which is clearly incorrect. On the face of it, the date of death is AH 604, which is equivalent to AD 1208. Tombstones of this type were not produced until the 1280s, however. It is true that other tombstones from Khambhat were commissioned posthumously, but in this case the tombstone seems to have been ordered from Gujarat during Shaykh Muhammad's lifetime, and the date of death added later, once Shaykh Muhammad was dead. The person who drafted this part of the epitaph may simply have made a mistake, but it is also possible that the writer intended the phrase "after 600" to mean "after the end of the seventh century (AH)". Either way, this would date Shaykh Muhammad's death to 1 Dhu'l-Hijjah 704, equivalent to 25 June 1305, a date that accords with the style of the tombstone.
Malzemeler ve teknikler
Carved marble Marble Carved
Fiziksel açıklama
Tombstone of marble, carved in Khambhat, Gujarat, circa 1305, and shipped to Dhofar, now in Oman, where the date of death was added. The marble slab was carved as a stele with a tall, rectangular main section below a projecting upper section, which has the form of a pointed arch. A central panel within the upper section is carved in high relief and shows a lamp (now damaged) hanging within an arch, with half a plantain or banana plant filling the space on either side. The rest of the decoration consists of inscriptions in Arabic carved in low relief, including five quotations from the Qurâan. The inscriptions The motif of a lamp hanging within an arch is more or less conventional for Khambhat tombstones of this period, and the same can be said of the layout of the inscriptions, the styles of script employed, and the calligraphic compositions for standard phrases (see Lambourn, Carving and Communities, and compare V&A: A.12 and 13-1933). A stack of nine horizontal bands of different heights fills the centre of the main section. It contains the basmalah (âIn the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionateâ; line 1), the shahÄdah (âThere is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of Godâ; line 2), a quotation from surah al-Tawbah (IX, 21; line 3) and the two-part epitaph (lines 4-7 and 8-9). A much longer quotation from the surah al-Baqarah (II, 255-7, to ÙخرجÙ٠٠٠اÙظÙ٠ات اÙÙ ÙÙرÙ) fills the outer framing band, which runs up the right side of the tombstone, around the upper section and down the left side. Within it are two vertical bands containing quotations from the surah Äl âImrÄn (III, 18-19, to Ø¥Ù٠اÙدÙ٠عÙد اÙÙ٠اÙإسÙا٠, and 26-7). The fifth quotation, from al-Ḥashr (LIX, 22), fills the horizontal band at the base of the upper section. The styles of script The main style of script is closely related to the chancery hands used in royal decrees and other official documents (compare Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy , Edinburgh, 2006, fig. 9.7). This is evident from the letter forms -- e.g. the base of the letter alif (independent form) has an extension to the left, and the letter hÄâ (final form) is written as a flourish rather than as a closed shape -- but even more so from the use of the âhangingâ ( taâlÄ«q ) arrangement of the text, in which groups of letters run diagonally, from top right to bottom left, within the space allocated to the line of text. This practice is particularly noticeable in the quotation from al-Tawbah , where the scribe packed the groups of letters close together in slanting rows to fit them all in. A second style of script was used for the basmalah and shahÄdah inscriptions, which reflect standardized compositions. The letter forms are very similar to those in the other inscriptions, with the addition of serifs to vertical strokes in many cases, but there is no taâlÄ«q stacking, as the scribe followed the horizontal base line in composing the text. The scale is larger, too: the band containing the shahÄdah is twice as tall as line 1, which is already taller than the rest. As a result, the vertical elements in the shahÄdah are comparatively long, which is especially evident in the composition of the first phrase, âThere is no god but Godâ (to the right in line 2). Emphasizing part of the text by creating a forest of parallel vertical strokes, commonly used in inscriptions from Khambhat, is reminiscent of the á¹ughrÄ element in royal decrees, which contains the name and title of the sultan (again compare Blair, fig. 9.7). The epitaph Lines 4-7 in the central stack contain the first part of the epitaph, which was executed in Khambhat in the main style of script. The text records the name of the deceased as âShaykh ⦠Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Saâd ibn âAliâ. The last word in the name, after ââAliâ, was inserted or amended after the tombstone arrived in Dhofar, but it is not easily legible; it seems to be Shaykh Muhammadâs nisbah , an epithet often based on a personâs place of origin. The second part of the epitaph (lines 8-9) was also added in Dhofar, and in the same style of script as the nisbah , with letter forms extended by leaf-based decorative flourishes (foliation). This text places the date of Shaykh Muhammadâs death in âthe year 4 after 600â in the Muslim calendar, equivalent to AD 1208 (but see below).
