he two side panels include checkerboards that list the Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God (al-asma' al-husna). Other hilyes, such as one composed by the famous calligrapher Hafiz Osman (dated 1110/1698), also contain God's names, as well as the epithets (alqab) of the Prophet Muhammad (Derman 2002: 96-7). Much like the verbal description of the Prophet in the central panel, the names of God on the side panels are intended to represent the unity of his being (wahdat al-wujud) in a verbal, non-pictorial manner.

This calligraphic fragment includes an exercise in nasta'liq script that consists in combining letters (mufradat) in various formations. Albums of mufradat exercises include the single letters (al-huruf al-mufradah or, in the Ottoman tradition, huruf-i muqatta'a) of the Arabic alphabet in sequence, followed by letters in their composite form. Exercise books begin at least by the 16th century. They were used as books of exemplars of calligraphy to introduce students into the practice of handwriting and provide chains of transmission of calligraphic knowledge throughout the centuries (Safwat 1996:12-3).

This calligraphic panel includes an arabic saying written in black nasta'liq script on a brown background framed in blue and pink borders decorated with gold designs. The lower right and left corners of the panel are lost. The saying reads:Ufawwitu amri ila Allah inna Allah bashara bi al-'ibad / I entrust my affair to God. Truly, God looks after His servants.

his calligraphic sheet states that "whoever writes the bismillah ("in the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful") in a beautiful writing enters Paradise without judgment." (Library of Congress 2001, 27). This saying is quite popular in Ottoman calligraphic panels (qit'a), as "good handwriting" (husn-i khatt) was considered an outward manifestation of the religious and moral values cultivated by calligraphers.
- This kind of framed calligraphic inscription pasted onto a pasteboard is called a lawha (Arabic) or levha (Turkish), which means literally "tablet." These kinds of compositions pasted onto cardboards are typical of Ottoman calligraphic practices during the 18th-19th centuries (Safwat 1992: 142-143).

Immediately below the inscription eulogizing 'Ali appear several lines executed in red (vocalized in blue ink), blue (vocalized in red ink), and black (vocalized in red ink) praising the Imam, the Prophet Muhammad, and God. The four diagonal lines executed in blue ink provide a supplementary eulogistic quatrain in honor of a ruler by drawing a parallel to the great Persian kings Jamshid and Feridun.

Above the mihrab, a rectangular frame contains the words Allah, Muhammad (peace and prayers upon him), and 'Ali written in such a way as to create a reverse or mirror image. This writing technique is known as specular, bifold (musenna), duplicate writing (cift yazi), or reflecting (mutenazir) itself (Mandel Khan 2001: 130-3; and Ozonder 2003, 147). The process of mirror writing and mirror image-making flourished in the Ottoman empire during the 18th and 19th centuries, in particular in mystical quarters associated with the Bektashi order. The Bektashis created calligraphic panels and paintings representative of their tenets, among which the belief in the divinity of 'Ali, the fourth caliph of Islam and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.. As suggested by this panel, God, Muhammad and 'Ali are indissociable, as each is replicated from a divine presence into concrete form. It is quite probable that this panel was hung on a wall in a Bektashi dervish's living quarters, mosque, or dervish lodge (tekke), much like another 18th-century panel of mirror writing found in the collections of the Library of Congress (1-86-154.30).

The process of mirror writing and mirror image-making flourished in the Ottoman empire during the 18th and 19th centuries, in particular in mystical quarters associated with the Bektashi order. The Bektashis created calligraphic panels and paintings representative of their tenets, among which the belief in the divinity of 'Ali, the fourth caliph of Islam and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, comes to the fore (De Jong 1989: 7-9). As suggested by this panel, God and 'Ali are indissociable, as one reflects a divine presence in concrete, almost replicated, form. It is quite probable that this panel was hung on a wall in a Bektashi dervish's living quarters, mosque, or dervish lodge (tekkeh).

Albums of letter, or mufradat, exercises include the single letters (al-huruf al-mufradah or, in the Ottoman tradition, huruf-i muqatta'a) of the Arabic alphabet in sequence, followed by letters in their composite form (in the Turkish tradition, murekkebe, lit. "pairs"). Exercise books begin at least during the 17th century and are typical of Ottoman calligraphic practices. They were used as books of exemplars of calligraphy to introduce students into the practice of husn al-khatt (beautiful handwriting) and bear witness to the chain of transmission of calligraphic knowledge throughout the centuries (Safwat 1996:12-3).

The letters are written in a black nasta'liq script on a beige paper and surrounded by cloud bands executed in light blue and white ink. Between the bands and the rectangular frame appear a number of illuminated flower motifs placed on a gold background stippled with three-dot incisions. The work's frames combine single colors with an internal white-and-gray marbled paper (kaghaz-i abri). The paper and frames are placed onto a thicker light green piece of paper decorated with gold flecks.

The blue and white marble paper is also typical of calligraphic panels produced in 18th century Iran and Turkey. Marbled paper (ebru in Turkish, or Kaghaz-i abri in Persian) appears to date as far back as the 16th century, although its use in calligraphic panels truly blooms during the 18th and 19th centuries. The particular marbling technique used in this panel is called "marbling of tide," which is created by combing the surface with an awl (Basar and Tiryaki 2000, 20). A salmon pink frame is pasted on top of the blue and white marble paper with the calligraphic exercises, and both papers are strengthened by being pasted to a thick cardboard.

Although only one illuminated folio remains, it originally would have created a double-page illuminated du'a. This layout is typical of Safavid Persian Qur'ans from the second half of the 16th century (see James 1992b: 178-9, cat. no. 43), as well as Ottoman Turkish Qur'ans from the same period. For instance, a similar prayer appears immediately at the end of an Ottoman Turkish Qur'an dated 980/1573, now held in the Keir Collection in London, England (VII.49; Robinson 1976, 294). Due to similarities in script (in which three lines of text in gold alternate with a line in white ink), composition, and illumination, the prayer fragment here probably dates from the second half of the 16th century as well.

The tughra included here has a long tradition as a royal calligraphic emblem in Turkic cultures. From the time of the Oguz, Seljuks, and most especially the Ottomans, it became the blazon of a ruler that included his name and titles, sometimes in highly stylized form. Although it appears in this case as a kind of royal signature (imza'), the tughra typically initiated an imperial decree (ferman) and various legal documents such as property deeds (vakfiyahs). It also appears on Ottoman buildings, coins, calligraphic panels, and postage stamps. It symbolizes a "noble mark" (nishan-i sharif) of possession and thus often takes on the role of a seal impression (hatam or muhur), which grants permission or endows ownership (Sertoglu 1975: 3-8).

he extractive technique of découpage is known in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish as qit'a, or literally "cutting out," and artists specializing in this technique were called qati'an (cutters). It appears that découpage calligraphy became popular around the last quarter of the 15th century, as Qadi Ahmad's treatise of 1015/1606 on the subject makes clear (Qadi Ahmad 1959: 17 and 174-94). Although the technique of découpage emerges during the second half of the 15th century, it became a popular tool for the making of Ottoman kalips (calligraphic perforated sheets) during the 16th-19th centuries (Safwat 1996: 142-43 and 194). For example, one Ottoman work of découpage made by a certain Suleyman is dated 1282/1865-6 (Safwat 1996: 200-1, cat. no. 140). For these reasons, it is logical to assume that this découpage work was made in Ottoman Turkey in the 18th or 19th century.