Tile Inscribed with the "Throne Verse" from the Qur'an, 1260's

  • Islamic, Iranian

Composite body with opaque white glaze and over-glaze luster-painted decoration

  • Overall: 12 × 12 1/4 × 7/8 inches (30.5 × 31.1 × 2.2 cm)

Founders Society Purchase

25.57

Inscribed, Qur'an Surah al-Baqarah (The Chapter, "The Cow" in the Qur'an. 2:255, the "Throne Verse"): [transcribed: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Allah!There is no God save Him, the Alive, the Eternal. Neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him. Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that intercedeth with Him save by His leave? He knoweth that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will. His Throne includeth the heavens and the earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is the Sublime, the Tremendous. There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error.]

Daniel Z. Noorian (New York, New York, USA)

1925-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Welch, Anthony. Calligraphy in the Arts of the Muslim World. Exh. cat., The Asia Society. Austin, 1979, p. 116 [described, dated and inscription translated], p. 117, (ill.). Peck, Elsie H. "Like the Light of the Sun: Islamic Luster-Painted Ceramics," Bulletin of the DIA 71, no. 1/2 (1997): p. 23, p. 28, pl. 11 (ill.).

Islamic, Iranian, Tile Inscribed with the "Throne Verse" from the Qur'an, 1260's, composite body with opaque white glaze and over-glaze luster-painted decoration. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, 25.57.