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 into accordion fold albums, known as muraqqaʿ. This calligraphic panel containing Hadith, or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, is lavishly decorated with gold illumination and a variety of floral designs in a style typical of the 18th century. The calligrapher, Mehmed Şehrî b. İsma’il, known as Usturacı-zâde (d. 1740), used the dynamic tawqi' style of script for the heading and naskh for the four small lines.