Hilyah

The design of this hilyah departs radically from the traditional Ottoman layout attributed to Hafiz Osman [see CAL 459]. At the centre is a quotation from the Qur'an, surah al-Baqarah (II), verse 20, 'For God hath power over all things.' This is repeated five times in a dynamic rotating arrangement, with one of the letters, the 'ayn, forming the central rosette around the name of the Prophet. The text of the hilyah is arranged around the composition. According to the colophon, Ibrahim Edhem copied this composition from one by Mehmed Nazif Effendi.