Ottoman prayerbook, Bok

Acquisition: Purchased from Francois de Ricolès auction rooms, Paris at an auction of oriental manuscripts and miniatures, Friday 22 March, 1966, lot no 33.
Why this is a masterpiece
This is a particularly fine and well preserved example of a prayer book. It contains several Koranic verses, prayers and talismanic paintings, e.g., the names of Allah and Mohamed in golden script; the foot and the sandal of the Prophet, Dhu al-Fiqâr (the double edged sword of Ali); the hand of Fatima; and the schematic mystical representations of the beautiful names of God and the names of the Prophet.

History of the Object
Virtually nothing is known of the history of this particular book. This type of book was made in order to protect their owners from the evil eye. (Virtual Collection of Masterpieces, http://masterpieces.asemus.museum/Default.aspx)

Binding, dark brownish red leather with stamped and gilded geometrical decoration.
Manuscript of 202 folios, polished paper, occasionally good quality, naskh from at least four different hands, but the dominant one seems to be from one Ibrahim Babir Bar Zadeh (fol. 184a). Contains several surat, prayers ( du’a’) and talismanic paintings, for instance the names of Allah and Muhammed in golden script (folio 116b-117a), foot and the sandal of the profet (folio 127b-128a) , Dhu al-Fiqâr (the double edged sword of ‘Alî) and Fatimas hand (128b-129a), representations of Mecca and Medina (119b-120a) and schematic mystical representations for example of the beautiful names of God (al-’asmâ’ al-husnâ’, folio75b-77a) and the names of the profet (79a-80b).
Black golden, red ink for calligraphy and polychrome ink as well in titlepages and paintings.

This small book is a compilation of various religious texts illustrating popular beliefs and customs. Its content is based mainly on the Qur'an to which the first part of the manuscript is dedicated. The text starts with the fatiha, the first sura, and ends with the last sura CXIV, but it is not the complete Qur'an. The text was written in a muhaqqaq style and in naskhi script possibly by two different calligraphers. One of them was Ibrahim Babirbarzadeh, whose signature appears in a later part of the manuscript. On each page the text is framed by a broad gold stripe and lines of black and bright bluish-red ink. The sura headings are illuminated and the verses are marked by golden rosettes. The first part of the manuscript is followed by a selection of suras and Qur'anic verses. According to popular belief, the words of the Qur'an possess supernatural powers because of their divine origin, which help in cases of misfortune. The margins of these pages are also covered with texts. These margin notes might provide explanation of the specific use of the quotations, for example, against disease or poverty. The 99 beautiful names of Allah and the names of the Prophet, which are written on the next pages of the manuscript, are also considered to afford special protection. A common element of books of this kind is prayers of blessing whose recitation was a deserving act of believers. The most impressive part of the manuscript is a series of painted pages showing the names of Allah and Muhammad in golden script against a blue background, the footprint and the sandal of the Prophet, views of Mecca and Medina and powerful quotations, letters and names of God arranged in circles and squares as protection against the evil eye.
The binding of the book is of dark brownish-red leather ornamented with a central golden rectangle and filled with a rhomb pattern. The inside of the binding is covered with a polished yellow paper showing a design of large leaves.

Source: [https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;se;Mus01;9;en&cp]

How date and origin were established:
From stylistic aspects of the illuminations. Their floral elements, for example, are close to those of Ottoman Qur'ans of the 12th / 18th century.

How Object was obtained:
Purchased in auction at François de Ricqlès, Paris, 22 March 1996, lot no 33.

How provenance was established:
From stylistic aspects of the illuminations. Their floral elements, for example, are close to those of Ottoman Qur'ans of the 12th / 18th century.

Source: [https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;se;Mus01;9;en&cp]