Gulzar calligraphic Panel

This calligraphic panel executed in black and red on a white ground decorated in gold contains a number of prayers (du'as) directed to God, the Prophet Muhammad, and his son-in-law 'Ali. The letters of the larger words are executed in nasta'liq script and filled with various decorative motifs, animals, and human figures. The human figures standing side-by-side in the central horizontal letter represent the eleven Shi'i imams and (a kneeling) Imam ‘Ali, holding his double-edged sword Dhu al-Fiqar. All around the larger letters composed in the nasta'liq style and filled with motifs appear smaller Shi'i prayers purposefully executed in a number of different scripts. These include thuluth, naskh, nasta'liq, shikastah, tawqi', and Kufi. One inscription is even written in reverse, as if executed with the help of a mirror. The sheer variety of these scripts, along with the larger central gulzar composition, was intended to showcase Husayn Zarrin Qalam's mastery of all the major calligraphic scripts.