This impressive Talismanic from the late 18th to early 19th century, contains multiple handwritten Quranic verses and the most beautiful names of God. On the cotton shirt there are what look like remnants of gold on the names of God. It is possible that they were once plated with gold, which have begun to fade due to its usage and age.
The front, left side of the Talismanic has the inscription ‘there is no God but God’ and on the right side ‘Muhammad, the Messenger of God’. These inscriptions are also gold-plated. On the reverse side, there are many Quranic verses and a gold-plated Tughra of the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
What makes this piece even more unique is that it may have been worn by one of the most important officials during the Ottoman Empire.
The Talismanic is 86 cm in width and 128 cm in height and in surprisingly good general condition. There are a few places that require re-stitching.
Product Code: 15188
A talismanic shirt (or talisman shirt; Turkish: tılsımlı gömlek; Persian: پیراهن طلسمات, Romanized: pirâhan telesmat) is a handmade, worn textile talismanic object. Talismanic shirts are found throughout the Islamic world. The shirts can be grouped to four types which differ in style and the symbols used: an Ottoman, a Safavid, a Mughal and a West African one.
The earliest surviving examples were made approximately in 15th century,[1] though the tradition of talismanic shirts might be much older. In the Surah Yusuf of the Quran a shirt of the prophet Yusuf is described as giving him protection and even miracle-working. He hands it over so it can heal the blindness of his father Yaqub: "Go with this my shirt, and cast it over the face of my father: he will come to see"[Quran 12:93].
The shirts may be inscribed with verses from Quran, names of Allah and of prophets and with numbers. They may carry images or symbols, e.g., astrological ones. The inscribed names are believed to be capable of offering protection and guidance to the carrier. Although talismanic shirts can be worn to protect against many evils most of them seem to be intended as a shield in battle.
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