Calligraphic mirror composition with gold lettering

The left half of the composition is a mirror image of that on the right. Generally speaking calligraphers began by completing the right-hand part of the composition and then doing the left-hand mirror image. In this example the lettering has been stencilled and then gilded. The inscription consists of the words ve huve bi kulli şey’in alîm (He is the all-knowing) that is repeated in several places in the Koran (Nisa: 32, Nur: 64, Hucurat: 16, Ankebut: 62). In the space at the top of the composition the calligrapher has written the besmele (the abbreviated name for the formula bismillahirrahmanirrahim, ‘In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful), and in the space at the bottom his colophon (written by Hakkı), both in the form of mirror compositions. The border around the medallion containing the calligraphy is decorated with rumi scrolls, and the area outside this is illuminated with rumi and floral scrollwork. The illumination is thought to be the calligrapher’s own work.