page_title: Zulfiqar
section_title: Invocation and depiction
hierarchical_section_title: Zulfiqar / Invocation and depiction
caption_attribution_description: English: This single panel praises Muhammad's son-in-law 'Ali and his famous double-edged sword Dhu al-Fiqar, which he inherited from the Prophet, with the topmost statement executed in black ink: "There is no victory except 'Ali [and] there is no sword except Dhu al-Fiqar" (la fath ila 'Ali, la sayf ila Dhu al-Fiqar). Script: various.
context_page_description: Zulfaqar, also spelled Zu al-Faqar, Zulfiqar, Dhulfaqar, Dhulfiqar or Dhu al-Faqar, is the sword of Ali ibn Abi Talib. It was historically frequently depicted as a scissor-like double bladed sword on Muslim flags, and it is commonly shown in Shia depictions of Ali and in the form of jewelry functioning as talismans as a scimitar terminating in two points.
  Middle Eastern weapons are commonly inscribed with a quote mentioning Zulfiqar, and Middle Eastern swords are at times made with a split tip in reference to the weapon.
context_section_description: Zulfiqar was frequently depicted on Ottoman flags, especially as used by Janissaries cavalry, in the 16th and 17th centuries.
  Zulfiqar is also frequently invoked in talismans. A common talismanic inscription or invocation is the double statement:
  لا فتى إلا علي لا سيف إلا ذو الفقار‎
  lā fatā ʾillā ʿAlī; lā sayf ʾillā Ḏū l-Fiqār.
  "There is no hero like Ali; There is no sword like Dhu-l-Fiqar"
  A record of this statement as part of a longer talismanic inscription was published by Tewfik Canaan in The Decipherment of Arabic Talismans (1938).
  Heger (2008) speculates that the talismanic formula may be old and may have originated as a Christian invocation.
caption: Calligraphic panel in praise of Ali. The large inscription at the top reads lā fatā ʾilā ʿAlī lā sayf ʾilā Ḏū l-Fiqār.
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