Page 51 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

9b. Jeweled gold binding made for the Koran transcribed by Ahmed
Karahisari in 1546/1547, second half seventeenth century (Istanbul, Topkapi
Sarayí Müzesi, 2/2097)

the student of Asadullah Kirmani. The undated volume is makili (checkerboard or squared). The phrase, repeated four
written in a combination of large and small scripts that char- times, is embellished with gold. Below it is the most revolu-
acterize Karahisari's style. tionary execution of the besmele, the phrase that appears at
The double frontispiece contains the two best-known ex- the beginning of each Koranic chapter: "bismillah ir-rahman
amples of his work (10). Pasted into the folios, they must ir-rahim" (usually translated "in the name of God, the Merci-
have been executed as separate studies in the 1540s and in- ful, the Compassionate"). Written once again in müselsel sü-
corporated into the volume. The example on the left is a tour lüs, in black ink with gold diacritics, it demonstrates the ge-
de force, the phrase "el-hamd ül-i v'aliy ul-hamid" (praise be nius of Karahisari. At the bottom is another makili kufi
to the praiseworthy), executed in sülüs without once lifting inscription rendered in gold, containing the besmele together
the pen. This form of writing, called muselsel, presented a with a verse from the Koran.
tremendous challenge to calligraphers. The letters are out- Another collection of Karahisari's calligraphy appears in an
lined in black and filled with two different decorative album dated 1552/1553 that includes alphabetic exercises
schemes: the central ones have a floral scroll bearing tiny written in alternating gold and black sülüs and nesih. The fo-
eight-petaled blossoms composed of minute black and gold lios are composed sideways and in facing pairs with the backs
dots, while those at the beginning and end are rendered in left blank. The pair at the beginning (11) contains prayers
gold. rendered in two lines of sülüs with a line of nesih in be-
The folio on the right contains three other calligraphic mas- tween, a format followed throughout the manuscript. The
terpieces. On the top is the phrase "el-hamd ul-illah" (praise first page has black sülüs on the top, black nesih in the mid-
to God), written in black kufi (angular script) in a form called dle, followed by another black line in gubari (which appears

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