An impressive silver-thread embroidered silk Ka'ba curtain (kiswah) presented by King Fahd bin 'Abd al-'Aziz (reg. 1982-2005)
Mecca, signed Abd al-Rahim Amin, dated AH 1417/ AD 1996-7
of rectangular form, the black silk ground embroidered in silver and gilt-silver thread with inscription filled roundels, cartouches and palmettes, the interstices with vegetal interlace, the border with an undulating foliate vine
530 x 276 cm.
Footnotes:
Provenance
Formerly the property of a professor of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
Private Belgian Collection, Brussels, acquired at DVC auctions, Antwerp, on the 11th of December 2021, lot 809.

Inscriptions:

In the long border cartouches Qur'an, Chapter I (al-fatihah)

In the four smaller cartouches in the centre: chapter II (al-baqarah), verses 255 and 256

In the top two long cartouches: chapter II (al-baqarah), part of verse 144

In the single long cartouche on top: Qur'an, chapter III (al-'Imran), verse 133

In the four pear-shaped motifs, repeat of the Qur'an, chapter XXIV (al-nur) opening of the verse 35.

In the wide cartouche in the middle: Qur'an, chapter XLVIII (al-fath), part of verse 27; the date '1417' and the name 'Abd al-Rahim Amin.

In the two bands between two roundels: Qur'an, chapter XXXIX (al-zumar), verse 53

In the two roundels: Qur'an, chapter CXII (al-ikhlas), Qur'an and chapter XLVIII (al-fath), part of verse 29

In the three cartouches below the above: A hadith of the Prophet and Qur'an chapter CVI (Quraysh)

In small roundels, repeat of phrases 'God is my Lord' and 'God suffices me'

In the two lower rectangular panels: 'This curtain was made in the Honoured Mecca and presented to the Noble Ka'ba by the servant of the two Holy Sanctuaries Fahd bin 'Abd al-'Aziz of the house of Sa'ud, may God accept [it] from him'.


The Ka'ba is decorated annually on the 9th day of the month of Dhu al-Hijah, the day during the Hajj on which the pilgrims leave for the plains of Mount Arafat. The four walls are covered with curtains (kiswah), such as the present lot, and are encircled by a band (hizam) embroidered with text from the Qur'an.

The practice of decorating the Ka'ba dates back to pre-Islamic times and the Prophet Muhammad himself witnessed the ceremony of the covering of the Ka'ba as a six-year-old child. Under the Mamluks, Egypt became the supplier of the kiswah, and it became traditional to change it annually. Production in Egypt continued under the Ottomans until 1927 when it was decided that the King of Saudi Arabia should provide the textiles, and production was moved to Arabia, where it continues today. When the kiswah and the hizam were replaced, they were cut up and reserved for important dignitaries such as the Sharif of Mecca, but some fragments were also allowed to be sold in special shops near the Bab al-Salam.

A comparable panel presented by King Fahd in 1985 is in the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation (SM 2006-1465). Another, dated 2003, was loaned to the British Museum by the King Abdul Aziz Public Library, Saudi Arabia, for the Hajj exhibition in 2012. A very similar kiswah was presented to the United Nations by the Saudi Arabian Ambassador Shaikh Faisal al-Hujaylan in January 1983 and is displayed in the General Assembly building, New York (Gift ID: UNNY100G).
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