A journey to search my soul

This is a blog of my personal collections. The purpose of this blog is to educate myself and public in regards to antiquities especially related to religion and calligraphy. I welcome everyone to input their feedback in this blog which they think would be helpful. I do not watermark the photos in this blog so everyone is free to use them as long as they are not used for illegal and unethical reasons. I appreciate if you could notify me if you plan to use any of the photos here. Enjoy browsing!!

Monday, January 4, 2016

Ancient Artifact Review 62 : Antique Timurid / Safavid Quranic Inscribed Jade Amulet / Talisman ( 15th - 16th Century)


This a large dark green jade with Quranic inscriptions which I believe used as an amulet or a talisman. Written in Thuluth script some chapters from the Quran.
With dimension of 60mmx 60mm, I noticed the entire edge of this piece is weary and has some sort of stain indicating that this jade was originally mounted on possibly metal frame. It could have been hung either as a necklace or on some spots in the building for talismanic purpose.

 I could clearly read what was inscribed in the middle of the jade as below :
 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ مَلِكِ النَّاسِ إِلَهِ النَّاسِ
مِن شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ 
الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ
مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَ النَّاسِ
لااله الا الله

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
 
Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of An-Nas.
The King of An-Nas.
The God of An-Nas.
From the evil of the whisperer who withdraws.
Who whispers in the breasts of An-Nas.
Of Jinn and An-Nas


There is no one worthy of worship except Allah

This is a very popular and common chapter, Al Nas, from the Quran which is recommended to recite to ward off evil spirit and Demon.
It's narrated in a Hadis :

Imam Ahmad recorded from Uqbah bin `Amir that he said, "While I was leading the Messenger of Allah along one of these paths he said, O `Uqbah! Will you not ride, I was afraid that this might be considered an act of disobedience. So the Messenger of Allah got down and I rode for a while. Then he rode. Then he said, O Uqbah! Should I not teach you two Surahs that are of the best two Surahs that the people recite? I said, `Of course, O Messenger of Allah.' So he taught me to recite Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of Al-Falaq. (Sura Al-Falaq) and Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind. (Sura Al-Nas) Then the call was given to begin the prayer and the Messenger of Allah went forward (to lead the people), and he recited them in the prayer. Afterwards he passed by me and said, What do you think, O `Uqayb! "Recite these two Surahs whenever you go to sleep and whenever you get up. [ An-Nasa'i and Abu Dawud both recorded this Hadith. ]

 I still need to figure out what are the other Quranic verses inscribed on the rim of the jade. Can anyone help me with this?

Below is example of Timurid jade from an auction
Timurid Amulet Jade

Item : Tasliman / Amulet
Content : Quranic verses
Dim : 60mm x 60mm
Date : 15th - 16th Century CE
Material : Dark Green Jade.
Origin : Iran / Afghanistan

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