Dua Alawi Misri

A finely bound copy of Dua Alawi Misri, a Shi'a prayer in praise of Imam al-Mahdi.

• Safavid Persia: Second half of the 16th century.
• 52 leaves plus two flyleaves at each end.
• Illuminated manuscript in Arabic.
• Text in single column with seven lines of alternating scripts (the first, fourth and seventh in alternating lines of blue and gold thuluth framing sections of smaller naskh script in black).
• Later added remboitage floral lacquered binding, likely from the 19th century.
• The execution of the calligraphy is of a high standard and typical of the style of manuscript produced at the height of the 16th century, with each page written in alternating scripts of thuluth and naskh lavishly copied against text blocks speckled in gold, evidently copied by a very skilled scribe.