Page with illuminated calligraphy, Hadith (Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad)

Ottoman calligraphers often demonstrated their skills by writing different styles and sizes of Arabic script on rectangular sheets of paper, which were then then illuminated, mounted on pasteboard with colored and marbled papers, and assembled into albums known as muraqqqaʿ. The 18th-century Ottoman calligrapher Mustafâ el-Kütâhî composed this calligraphic panel containing Hadith, or sayings of the Prophet, using the thuluth style of script for the heading and the naskh style for the three small lines. Each component of the calligraphic panel is outlined with gold-lined orange papers, while a gold border frames the entire panel.