“The nearest of you to me on the Day of Judgement will be the one who is best in character.”
(Bukhari)
This stunning lawha composition is a reproduction of an original Ottoman manuscript calligraphed by Süleyman Vasfî Efendi, a student of Şefik Bey during the time of Sultan Abdülmecid.
The main text is in müsenna jali thuluth form, a style of calligraphy where two different texts are intertwined and mirrored, and it depicts a 'sikke' Mevlevi turban. According to Dr. Alan Godlas, it translates to:
Hu
Adab (manners), ya Hu!
O God (Hu), [please enable me to have virtuous] manners!
Muhammad
Bordered with a band of thuluth calligraphy, the outer margins are filled with rococo floral motifs. The calligraphy is taken from a poem attributed to the sage Yunus Emre and it reads:
اهل دللر اره سنده اره دم قلدم طلب
هر هنر مقبول ايمش الا ادب الا ادب
I searched among the folk of hearts,
beseeching them [for virtues].
Each talent was appreciated,
[but the most revered was] nothing but manners,
nothing but manners!
Between the four dots of the ya, at the bottom of the composition, is the artists signature: "Süleyman Vasfî wrote it" (كتبه سليمان وصفى).
Details of the calligraphic panel with 'Edeb Ya Hu'
