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

A beautifully illuminated bi-folio from copy of the Dala'il Al Khayrat, a collection of prayers for the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which was 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 which compiled 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 center of Islamic culture for many centuries and became a major cultural center of the Caliphate in the 8th century.

The-folio, on burnished paper with a good deal of decorative arabesque in the margins in gold, contains tightly scripted verse in naskhi, in black, gently pillowed in gold. There are 9 lines of script on the left page, separated by Persian commentary is finer red script. There are 8 lines of script on the right folio, separated near the bottom by a header written in white thuluth script within a golf cartouche. This marks the start of the fifth section of the al-Khayrat.

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