| 介绍（英） | Although the representation of figures is not strictly forbidden in the Qur'an, the avoidance of images as objects of devotion was apparent in Islamic practice almost from its inception. Turning away from the usual forms of sacred iconography, Islamic artists relied on the words of the Prophet Muḥammed to inspire and to give literal shape to their designs. As a result, calligraphy in Islamic lands developed into a fine art, becoming in the process the principal form of religious ornament, adorning objects both sacred and secular in nature.
A wide variety of Qur'anic passages and pious invocations appear in the decoration of Islamic arms and armor. The holy phrases used in this way functioned as expressions of piety, as powerful defenses in the form of talismans, or simply as visually pleasing ornament. One of the inscriptions most frequently encountered on armor and weapons is a passage from the second sūra (section or chapter) of the Qur'an, known as the Throne verse (ayat al-kursi), which begins, "God––there is no god but He, the Ever-living, the Self-subsisting by Whom all subsist" (2:255). Both verbally and as an inscription this sūra was used to invoke divine protection and to ensure eventual entrance into paradise.
Another section of the Qur'an often employed in military contexts is the sūra of Victory (sūrat al-fatḥ, 48:1–29). Several of its verses fill the central cartouches and wide borders of this Indo-Persian armor for the torso, known as a chār-āina. Chār-āina in Persian is literally "four mirrors," a term applied to armor of this type because it is usually fashioned of four circular or rectangular steel plates reminiscent of early mirrors of polished metal. This example, however, is made of four hinged panels of hardened leather, probably buffalo hide, painted red, gold, and black. Although buffalo-hide shields were made in India until the nineteenth century, a chār-āina in this material is rare, if not unique.
The sūra of Victory extols the triumph of those who believe in God and the Prophet, from the time of the early campaigns of Muḥammad and his followers until the anticipated ascendancy of Islām over all other religions. The first six verses of the sūra are not included on the chār-āina but probably appeared on a matching helmet or shield that no longer survives. This part of the sūra refers to the events surrounding the conquest of Mecca by Muḥammad in A.D. 628 (A.H. 6) and begins on the triumphant note, quoted on innumerable examples of Islamic arms and armor, "Surely We have granted thee a clear victory." The section of the sūra painted on the chār-āina begins in the large central cartouche of the front panel: "God's are the hosts of the heavens and the earth. God is mighty and wise." From the central cartouche the inscription runs clockwise around the border of the front panel, continuing in the central cartouche and the borders of the panel at the left side, and progressing in the same manner around the back until it concludes in the panel at the right side with the last line of the sūra: "God has promised such of them as believe and do good, forgiveness and a great reward." The wearer of the chār-āina was literally enveloped in the word of God. |