The Ottoman battle-axe 16th Century. Istanbul, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art. At the time of the Crusades Hazrat Ali’s courage and moderate treatment of his enemies made him a model of the righteous Muslim fighting for his faith. This chivalric ideal, as represented for instance by Saladin, the great Islamic conqueror of the period of the crusades became famous in the West as well.

Turkey 16th century, Cairo, Islamic Museum. This tile is decorated with a stylised representation of the Ka’bah in the Great Mosque of Mecca. The pillared ambulatory of the Mosque forms the inner-framework of the design. The six minarets, the minbar and the well of Zam-Zam are also depicted.

The declaration ‘Ma sha’Allah’ literally means ‘What God wants’. It is meant, in the sense of ‘What God does, is done well’. It appears in many Surahs of the Qur’an and has become a part of the daily language usage of Muslims as an exclamation of surprise or awe as well as one of recognition. ‘Ma sha’Allah’ expresses everything that occurs does so, as part of Gods will, and that humans should accept things in faith as Gods intentions. In some regions, the declaration is also used as a protection from bad luck and danger

Damascus 1259 height 34cm. This water ewer bears the name of the last Ayyubid, Salah al-Din Yusuf of Damascus; it was made in 1259 by the master craftsman Husain Ibn Muhammad of Musul, who emphasised its inscriptions by adding friezes of animal motifs as well as its arabesque medallions by inlays of silver

The Aqmar Mosque marks the change, at the beginning of the 12th Century, from brick masonry to stone, in the construction of sacred buildings. The decoration is worked not in stucco, but in stone. The tripartite structure of the design is interesting, with the central portal being clearly broader and higher than the two blind portals that flank it and carry projections adorned with muqarnas. Above each of these blind portals is a blind niche, and the façade ends with an inscription in stone running all the way around it.

Iran 9th or 10th Century, gilt silver, diameter 36cm, Berlin Museum of Islamic Art. This dish is a variant of the type of silver dish decorated with hunting scenes that had been produced for the Sassanian rulers of Iran in pre-Islamic times, but the typical round form has been modified into an octagonal dish, the high relief has been flattened, and the realistic scene had been abstracted into a symmetrical design of stylised senmurvs. Similar depictions of senmurvs, the lion-headed birds from Iranian myth, are found on contemporary textiles, and architectural decoration.

southern Italy or Sicily, 11~12th-century, carved ivory, length 50 cm, diameter 11.5 cm, Berlin, Museum for Islamic Art. Ivory horns from southern Italy were used as both hunting horns and drinking vessels, and were exported all over Europe. Their sucular function left the artist free to use a wide range of motifs. This ivory horn is ornamented with a tendril pattern containing animals - hare's, gazelles, and birds-and fantastic creatures.

New York, Metropolitan Museum, Aleppo, late 13th Century, height 19cm. This glass goblet was used for drinking. Names and titles are only rarely given on glassware since it was not considered prestigious on account of its negligible material value. For this reason it is not certain whether this goblet dates from the late Ayyubid or Mamluk period.

Syrian. 1300, Berlin, Museum for Islamic Art. The reputation of enamelled and gilded glass spread far beyond the areas where It was produced. With its precise engraving and rich colours, this bottle with 12 galloping riders, one of them holding a polo stick, marks a high point of Mamluk glassmaking. It was made for one of the Rasulid rulers of Yemen, to whom the repeated five-leafed rosette refers. The blazon of the Yemeni banner was a red rose on a white background.

Cairo, early 14th century, Berlin, Museum for Islamic Art. This mosque lamp bears the name of the Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad and, on Its neck, the Light Verse {sura 24,35): 'God is light of the heavens and the earth; his light may be compared to a niche that enshrines a lamp, the lamp within a crystal of a star- like brilliance ... "The lamp is decorated with a blue enamel calligraphic frieze on a gilt background. and a gilded eulogistic inscription on a background of blue enamel.

Cairo, eariy 14th-century, Berlin, Museum for Islamic Art This wooden box held a 30-volume edition of the Qur'an. It is paneled with brass sheets decorated with verses from the Koran and arabesques inlaid in gold and silver. The lock bears the names of two master craftsmen Muhammad ibn Sunqur al-Baghdadi and Hagg Yusuf, who carried out many commissions for Sultan al- Nisar Muhammed.

Cairo c. 1320-1330, height 36 cm, London, Nuhad El-Said Collection. This ornamental incense burner bears an inscription eulogising Sultan al-Nisar Muhammed and it is richly inlaid with gold and silver. it was designed to have a removeable lid which allowed it to be filled with the exotic perfumes that were burnt at court festivities.

Syria, c. 1330, Istanbul, Topkapi Palace. This unusually large steel mirror is decorated with the 12 signs of the zodiac, which give this practical object a higher significance.The gilt inscription that radiates out from the centre include the title of a high dignitary, whose name, Ala al-Din, appears in the central madallion. This is probably Altinbugha, who governed Aleppo until 1338. The fine detail of the enaraving on the inlaid silver identifies it as the work of a master known as Muhammad.

Iran or Iraq, 7th century New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Iran or Iraq, 10th century Washington, Freer Gallery of Art.

Istanbul, mid 16th century Topkapi Palace.