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 illuminated, mounted on pasteboard, and assembled with colored and marbled papers into accordion fold albums, known as muraqqaʿ. This undated calligraphic panel containing Hadith, or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, was composed using thuluth for the heading and naskh for the three small lines. The calligrapher, Sayyid Meḥmed Vehbī (d. 1731–1732), signed his name using the riqa' style of script. The panel is illuminated and bordered with marbled papers and gold margins.