Poem in Honor of the Prophet Muhammad

Description Walters manuscript W.582 is an illuminated copy of the famous poem in honor of the Prophet Muhammad, popularly known as Qasidat al-burdah (Poem of the mantle), composed by Sharaf al-Din Muhammad al-Busiri (died 694 AH/AD 1294). The text was written in a variety of scripts in the 11th century AH/AD 17th. According to the colophon, written in Riqa' script, it was executed by Habib Allah ibn Dust Muhammad al-Khwarizmi. The text of the poem begins on fol. 5b. Each page has borders of various colors with illuminated floral and geometric motifs. The borders and brown leather binding date to the 12th century AH/AD 18th.

Exhibitions

• Covered in Meaning: Book Bindings from The Walters. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1997-1998.
• Poetry and Prayer: Islamic Manuscripts from the Walters Art Museum. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2010.
• Paradise Imagined: Images of the Garden in the Islamic and Christian World. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2012.

Provenance [Two erased large seals on folio 1a]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquistion unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters