Two Folios from the Siyer-i Nebi

The Siyer-i Nebi is a Turkish version of the Life of Muhammad by the 9th-century scholar Ibn Hisham. It was written by Mustafa Darir of Erzurum for the Mamluk sultan Barquq in 1388. It was later copied in a lavishly illustrated six-volume manuscript for the Ottoman sultan Murad III (r 1574–1595), probably to teach his children the early history of Islam. The two folios in the Khalili Collection come from volume IV of this copy. MSS 152.1b (left): a caravan, headed by 'Abdallah ibn Jahsh, brings back booty to Medina from a raid by the Companions of the Prophet. MSS 152.2a (right): 'Ubayd ibn Harith and Hamza ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet's elderly uncle, advance at the head of a force against Abu Jahl.