Muhammad al-Jazuli - Dala'il Al Khairat - scribed in Bukhara - 1778

A beautifully illuminated bi-folio from a copy of the Dala'il Al Khayrat, a collection of prayers for the Islamic prophet Muhammad, written by the Moroccan Shadhili scholar Muhammad al-Jazuli (died 1465 AD), and believed to have been scribed in Bukhara. It is the first major book in Islamic history to compile litanies of peace and blessings upon Muhammad. It is thought to be the most copied book in Islam after the Qur'an. Bukhara was long an important economic and cultural center in Central Asia. The ancient Persian city served as a major hub of Islamic culture for many centuries and became a significant cultural center of the Caliphate in the 8th century.

The folio, on burnished paper with considerable decorative arabesque in the margins in gold, contains tightly scripted verse in naskhi, in black, gently pillow-shaped in gold. There are nine lines of script on the left page, separated by Persian commentary in finer red script. There are eight lines of script on the right folio, separated near the bottom by a header written in white thuluth script within a gold cartouche. This marks the beginning of the fifth section of the al-Khayrat.

Simple hand-scripted 'aya' (verse markers) break the scripture down into its verses. There is multi-linear framing around the scripture, surrounded by a beautifully constructed floral border mostly in gold, with flashes of red within the flowers.