Bowl

This water bowl or abkhora is hemispherical in shape and rests on a low ring foot. Its external surface is decorated with regular floral motifs but the inner surface is covered with Arabic inscriptions executed in the aftabi technique. It is believed that drinking water from a bowl inscribed with Quranic verses gives strength to the drinker’s body.

Running in four bands, from the outermost to the innermost, the inscriptions read: Bismilla ar-rahman ar-Raheem/ Nad-e-Ali mazhar- el ajaaib/ tajidahu aunan laka fin-nawaib/ kullu- hammin, wa-ghammin sayanjali/ be-nabu-wateka Ya Muhammadu/ be-welayateka Ya Ali, Ya Ali, Ya Ali. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful/ Call Ali, the manifestation of wonders/ You will find him helpful in calamities/ All worries and anxieties will disappear/ with your Greatness O God! With your prophethood O Muhammad/ With your succession O Ali! O Ali! O Ali!

The second band has the Throne Verse or the Aayat-al- Kursi from the Quran. Bismillaah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem/ Allahu la illaha illa hu/ Wal Hayyul Qayyum/ La te huzuhu sinetun wala nawmun/ Lahu ma fissemawati wa ma fil’ardi/ Men thallathiy yeshfe’u indehu illa biznih /Ya’lemu ma beyne eydiyhim/ wa ma halfehum wa la yuhiytune bishey’in min ilmihi /illa bima sha-a wasia kursiyyuhu semavati wal’ard /Wa la yeuduhu hifzuhuma wa hu wal aliy ul aziym

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful Allah! There is no God but He the Living, the Self-subsisting, the Eternal No slumber can seize Him, nor sleep All things in heaven and earth are His Who could intercede in His presence without His permission? He knows what appears in front of and behind His creatures Nor can they encompass any knowledge of Him except what he wills His throne extends over the heavens and the earth and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Highest and Most Exalted.
The fourth innermost band has the names of Allah, Muhammad Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Hussain.