“I have no refuge in the world other than thy threshold.
There is no protection for my head other than this door.
The work of the slave of the threshold Maqsud of Kashan in the year 946.”
The year 946 in the Islamic calendar corresponds to AD 1539–1540, pinpointing the creation of the Ardabil carpet to the reign of Shah Tahmasp. He generously donated this carpet to the shrine of Shaykh Safi-ad-din Ardabili in Ardabil, revered as the spiritual progenitor of the Safavid dynasty.
Another inscription graces the “Hunting Carpet,” now housed in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan Italy, marking its creation in 949 AH / AD 1542–3.