id: 128073 accession number: 1950.9 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1950.9 updated: 2023-08-23 20:50:54.700000 Inscribed Tombstone of Shaikh al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn al-Hasan (died 1110), 1110. Iran, Yazd, Seljuk Period, early 12th Century. Limestone; overall: 65 x 42.6 cm (25 9/16 x 16 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1950.9 title: Inscribed Tombstone of Shaikh al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn al-Hasan (died 1110) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1110 creation date earliest: 1110 creation date latest: 1110 current location: creditline: Edward L. Whittemore Fund copyright: --- culture: Iran, Yazd, Seljuk Period, early 12th Century technique: limestone department: Islamic Art collection: Islamic Art type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 65 x 42.6 cm (25 9/16 x 16 3/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: translation: remark: inscription: translation: remark: inscription: translation: remark: inscription: translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Islam and the Medieval West opening date: 1975-04-06T04:00:00 Islam and the Medieval West. University Art Museum, Binghamton, NY, Binghamton, NY (organizer) (April 6-May 4, 1975). title: Order & Rhythm: Carpets from the Islamic World opening date: 1993-09-10T04:00:00 Order & Rhythm: Carpets from the Islamic World. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (organizer) (September 10-November 7, 1993). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?-1950 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1950- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: More work by these two artisans, Ubaydallah Murra and Umar, survives than by any other single artisan working in Yazd during the 1100s. There are only three other collaborative efforts on twelfth-century mijrabs/tombstones of the Yazd area out of a total number of 18 signed pieces. digital description: wall description: Arabic calligraphy, the supreme art form in the Islamic world, enhances this tombstone. The elegant Arabic script embellished with leaf tendrils at the top of the tall letters is called floriated Kufic.

Verses about paradise from the holy Qur'an border the central arch-shaped niche that resembles a mosque's mihrab, located in the wall closest to the holy city of Mecca. The name of the deceased and the year of his death are recorded within the niche above the names of the carvers: "The work of Abaidallah Murra(?) and 'Umar(?)." The inscriptions from the Qur'an translate as follows:

Outer border (read from right to left):
"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Every soul shall taste of death; and ye shall only receive your recompenses on the Day of Resurrection. And who so shall escape the fire, and be brought into Paradise, shall be happy. And the life [of this world is but a cheating fruition]" (3:185).

Inner border:
"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. But as for those who say, 'Our Lord is God'; and who go straight to Him, the Angels shall descend to them and say 'Fear ye not, neither be ye grieved, but rejoice ye in the Paradise which ye have been [promised]'" (41:30). --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Milliken, William M. "Part II. Annual Report Issue for the Year 1950." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 38, no. 6 (1951): 151-82. page number: Mentioned: p. 158 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25141726 The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 682 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n125 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 208 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n232 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 208 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n232 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 264 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n284 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1991. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. page number: Reproduced: p. 39 url: Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 226 url: Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. page number: Mentioned: p. 168-171; Reproduced: p. 169 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.9/1950.9_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.9/1950.9_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.9/1950.9_full.tif