Page with illuminated calligraphy, Sayings attributed to the Companions of the Prophet

Calligraphers often demonstrated their skills by writing different styles and sizes of Arabic script on rectangular sheets of paper, which were then illuminated, mounted on pasteboard with colored and marbled papers, and assembled into accordion fold albums, known as muraqqaʿ. Calligraphic exercises were often made in the style of a particular master. This calligraphic panel dates from the late 13th-14th century and is in the style of the famous calligrapher, Yāqūt al-Musta‘ṣimī (d.1298), who lived in Baghdad and survived the fall of the city to the Mongols in 1258. Yāqūt is most well-known for perfecting the "proportioned script," in which letters are measured using a system of dots and circles.This calligraphic panel containing sayings of the Companions of the Prophet is written using three different styles of script. The thuluth style is used for the top and bottom headings, while the muhaqqaq style is used for the middle heading, written in gold and outlined with black ink. The smaller lines inbetween are written in the naskh style. An illuminator added verse markers in the shape of pinwheel medallions and swirling floral motifs.