Collection of Prayers for the Prophet Muhammad

Description Walters manuscript W.583 is an illuminated copy of the collection of prayers for the Prophet Muhammad entitled Dala'il al-khayrat, composed by Muhammad al-Jazuli (died 877 AH/AD 1472). The text was written in black Naskh script in the 11th century AH/AD 17th in Ottoman Turkey. It contains two facing illustrations (fols. 15b-16a) featuring the mosque compound in Medina with the tombs of Muhammad, Abu Bakr, and 'Umar. The reddish-brown goatskin binding is decorated with a central lobed medallion and four corner compartments with arabesque designs on a gold ground and decorative frames.

Exhibitions

• Poetry and Prayer: Islamic Manuscripts from the Walters Art Museum. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2010.

Provenance Leon Gruel, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [book plate: no. 1155 LG]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase [from Leon Gruel]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters