Dala’il al-Khayrat

Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli (d. 1465).
Dala’il al-Khayrat wa Shawariq al-Anwar fi Dhikr al-Salat ‘ala al-Nabi al-Mukhtar [romanized Arabic].
Ottoman Empire, dated 1134 AH [1722].
Illuminated manuscript in Arabic on paper. (BRMS 61)

Later manuscripts of the Dala’il al-Khayrat traditionally included illustrations of Mecca and Medina. The first image (right) shows Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad’s birthplace and longtime home. At the center of the immense mosque is the sacred Kaba (also known as the Bayt Allah, or “House of God”). This large, black, cubic structure is the goal for millions of pilgrims each year and the shrine toward which Muslims throughout the world face during prayer five times each day. The second image (left) depicts the mosque of the Prophet at Medina, with its seven minarets. Muhammad resided in a house on this site during the decade prior to his death in 632. The mosque’s largest dome, now known as the Green Dome, marks the location beneath which Muhammad was entombed.