"Muqarnas is an ornamentation element applied in Islamic architecture. It fills the inner parts of semi-domes with its honeycomb shape. Historically, muqarnas grew in their decorative use in the 12th century during Islam’s golden age."
The horoscope of the Persian Timurid ruler Iskandar Sultan, 1411. This is the only surviving individual illuminated horoscope from medieval Islam.
Al-Mizan (Libra) is at 3 o'clock in the circle of zodiac signs.
The United Emirates-based artist sources elements from Islamic geometry, embroidery, meenakari enamel work, and even electronic music to inspire the designs that compose her laser cut paper works. The complex patterns and layers of her colorful compositions are a metaphor for the artist’s multicultural background as a dual national from Jordan and the UK, and share elements of symbolism seen in the Middle East region. Ibbini uses computer algorithms to create digital designs that she laser cuts onto paper. She then layers these detailed pieces and hand-paints them with ink.
Sweet chestnut leaf with gold calligraphic inscription, Turkey, 19th century
The leaf is inscribed with a Qur’anic verse from Surat al-Isra’ (“The Night Journey,” Q17:80): “And say, ‘Lord grant me a good entrance and a goodly exit, and sustain me with Your power.”
Here is the cheetah in Zakariya al-Qazwini's 'Aja'ib al-Makhluqat wa Ghara'ib al-Mawjudat (The Wonders of Creatures and the Marvels of Creation), an important work of Islamic cosmography which was probably first written in the 1260s, and for centuries after was reproduced across the Islamic world. This illuminated manuscript copy was made in Wasit, Iraq in 1280 CE and is the earliest known surviving version.