النقوش الجنائزية الإسلامية في البحرين

١. المشروع1. The Project

This book assembles, for the first time in a single corpus, the Islamic funerary inscriptions of Bahrain that pre-date 1317 AH/1900 AD. It grew out of fieldwork carried out between 2013 and 2015 in partnership with the Jaffaria Waqf and the Sunni Waqf authorities, both of which supplied information on where relevant gravestones lay, seconded personnel to the recording teams, and granted the ethical clearance that made the survey possible.

يجمع هذا الكتاب، لأوّل مرّة في مدوّنة واحدة، النقوشَ الجنائزية الإسلامية في البحرين السابقة لسنة ١٣١٧هـ/١٩٠٠م. وقد نشأ عن عمل ميداني أُنجز بين سنتَي ٢٠١٣ و٢٠١٥ بالشراكة مع الأوقاف الجعفرية والأوقاف السنّية، وقد زوّدت الجهتان الفريقَ بمواقع شواهد القبور المعنيّة، وانتدبتا أفراداً للمشاركة في التوثيق، ومنحتا الأذون البحثية التي جعلت المسح ممكناً.

One hundred and fifty gravestones were recorded in twenty-six locations: twenty-three cemeteries, mosques and shrines holding 136 stones, two museums holding thirteen, and a single stone kept in a private house. Thirty-eight of the stones were brought to light by archaeological excavation rather than surface survey, and 106 of the 150 carry inscriptions of some kind, whether complete, fragmentary or badly eroded.

وُثِّق مئة وخمسون شاهد قبر في ستة وعشرين موقعاً: ثلاثة وعشرون مقبرةً ومسجداً ومزاراً تضمّ ١٣٦ شاهداً، ومتحفان يضمّان ثلاثة عشر، وشاهد واحد محفوظ في بيت خاصّ. وقد كُشف ثمانية وثلاثون شاهداً بالتنقيب الأثري لا بالمسح السطحي، ويحمل ١٠٦ من الشواهد المئة والخمسين نقوشاً على تفاوت بين التامّ والمبتور والشديد التآكل.

Fig. 1.1 The locations of the cemeteries surveyed in Bahrain

The direction of the excavations, the surveys and the ethnographic recording of present-day cemetery visiting lay with Timothy Insoll, assisted by Salman Almahari, Rachel MacLean and Jassim Al-Abbas. On Robert Hoyland's advice the inscriptions were first transcribed into modern Arabic by scholars already familiar with the formulae in use, work completed in Bahrain by Salman Almahari with Sheikh Bashar abd Alhadi Al-Ali and Jassim Al-Abbas.

تولّى تيموثي إنسول إدارة التنقيبات والمسوح والتوثيق الإثنوغرافي لممارسات زيارة المقابر المعاصرة، يعاونه سلمان المحاري وريتشل ماكلين وجاسم العباس. وبمشورة روبرت هويلاند نُسخت النقوش أوّلاً إلى العربية الحديثة على أيدي باحثين متمرّسين بصِيَغها المتداولة، وأُنجز ذلك في البحرين على يد سلمان المحاري مع الشيخ بشّار عبد الهادي العلي وجاسم العباس.

The English translations were prepared by Salman Almahari from the modern Arabic transcriptions, then cross-checked by Xavier Luffin of the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Abdelghani Mimouni of the University of Exeter. The authors deliberately refrain from adding historical commentary on the epitaphs, the people they commemorate or the places they name, leaving that field open for other researchers to work in without the weight of prior interpretation.

أعدّ سلمان المحاري الترجمات الإنجليزية عن النسخ العربية الحديثة، ثمّ راجعها كزافييه لوفان من جامعة بروكسل الحرّة وعبد الغني ميموني من جامعة إكستر. وقد تعمّد المؤلّفون الامتناع عن إضافة تعليق تاريخي على شواهد القبور أو على المُتَرجَم لهم أو على المواضع المذكورة فيها، تركاً لهذا الميدان مفتوحاً أمام باحثين آخرين بلا ثقل التأويلات السابقة.

٢. الدراسات السابقة لشواهد القبور الإسلامية في البحرين2. Earlier Research on the Islamic Gravestones of Bahrain

Islamic cemeteries, gravestones and funerary epigraphy in Bahrain have attracted remarkably little scholarly attention. The early European travellers ignored them entirely: neither Captain E. L. Durand, who dug the Aʿali mounds in 1878, nor Theodore and Mabel Bent, who came for the same purpose in February 1889, mention a single gravestone, although both describe the Al-Khamis Mosque under garbled local names.

لم تنل المقابر الإسلامية وشواهد القبور والنقوش الجنائزية في البحرين إلا نزراً يسيراً من عناية الدارسين. فقد أغفلها الرحّالة الأوروبيون الأوائل إغفالاً تامّاً: لم يذكر الكابتن إ. ل. دوراند الذي نقّب مدافن عالي سنة ١٨٧٨، ولا تيودور ومابل بنت اللذان قدما للغرض نفسه في فبراير ١٨٨٩، شاهدَ قبرٍ واحداً، مع أنّ كليهما وصف مسجد الخميس بأسماء محلّية محرّفة.

Ernst Diez, who visited the Al-Khamis Mosque in 1914, noted only that graves surrounded it. Henny Hansen's ethnography of Saar village in 1960 describes a bare unplanted cemetery with north–south graves marked at head and foot by rough slabs of coral chalk, and one grave of a leading villager distinguished by a flat rectangular slab: possibly the rectangular type recorded here, though the detail is too thin to be certain.

أمّا إرنست ديتس الذي زار مسجد الخميس سنة ١٩١٤ فلم يزد على أنّ القبور تحيط به. ووصفت هيني هانسن في دراستها الإثنوغرافية لقرية سار سنة ١٩٦٠ مقبرةً جرداء غير مشجّرة، قبورها موجّهة شمالاً–جنوباً معلّمة عند الرأس والقدم بألواح خشنة من طباشير المرجان، وقبراً واحداً لأحد وجهاء القرية تميّز بلوح مستطيل مسطّح؛ ولعلّه من النمط المستطيل الموثّق هنا، غير أنّ الوصف أشحّ من أن يقطع بذلك.

James Belgrave, in an otherwise careful survey of Bahrain's antiquities, concentrated on non-funerary Arabic inscriptions and dismissed the gravestones as comparatively modern and archaeologically unimportant: a judgement the present corpus decisively overturns, since the earliest dated stone belongs to 407 AH/1016 AD and the sequence runs for some eight centuries thereafter.

وركّز جيمس بلغريف، في مسحٍ لآثار البحرين هو في غير هذا الموضع دقيق، على النقوش العربية غير الجنائزية، وصرف شواهدَ القبور بأنّها حديثة نسبيّاً قليلة الأهمّية الأثرية؛ وهو حكم تنقضه هذه المدوّنة نقضاً، إذ يعود أقدم شاهد مؤرَّخ إلى سنة ٤٠٧هـ/١٠١٦م، وتمتدّ السلسلة نحو ثمانية قرون بعده.

Monique Kervran's excavations at Saar, Qalaʿat al-Bahrain and the Al-Khamis Mosque brought Islamic burials into archaeological view. At Saar three north–south tombs measuring 180 by 90 cm stood inside a small structure with a mihrab, resembling the shrine later excavated at Abu Anbra; their stucco panels may be the two catalogued here as MUS7, though the published illustrations are not clear enough to confirm the identification.

أدخلت تنقيبات مونيك كيرفران في سار وقلعة البحرين ومسجد الخميس المدافنَ الإسلامية في حقل النظر الأثري. ففي سار وُجدت ثلاثة قبور موجّهة شمالاً–جنوباً بمقاس ١٨٠×٩٠ سم داخل بناء صغير له محراب، يشبه المزار الذي نُقّب لاحقاً في أبو عنبرة؛ ولعلّ لوحَي الجصّ المفهرسَين هنا برمز MUS7 منها، غير أنّ الرسوم المنشورة أقلّ وضوحاً من أن تؤكّد ذلك.

At Qalaʿat al-Bahrain a cemetery of some 3000 square metres held between 100 and 120 tombs dated to the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries AD, of which sixty burials were exhumed. Two forms occurred: simple north–south pits, and pits lined with gypsum plaster, one containing a coffin with a young child in a white cotton shroud that disintegrated on contact with the air.

وفي قلعة البحرين ضمّت مقبرة تبلغ نحو ثلاثة آلاف متر مربّع ما بين مئة ومئة وعشرين قبراً مؤرّخة بالقرون الرابع عشر إلى السادس عشر الميلادي، استُخرج منها ستّون دفناً. وتبيّن نمطان: حُفَر بسيطة موجّهة شمالاً–جنوباً، وحُفَر مبطّنة بجصّ الجبس، في إحداها تابوت لطفل صغير في كفن قطني أبيض تفتّت بمجرّد ملامسة الهواء.

Some of those graves held objects, including a woman buried with a glass bracelet and a carnelian bead and another with a clay Shiʿa prayer tablet placed beneath one elbow. None had surviving above-ground markers, though Kervran suspected they had once carried cenotaphs or stood inside funerary chapels; one such chapel with four stepped gypsum-and-stone tomb structures was dated by stratigraphy to the fourteenth century AD.

وضمّ بعض تلك القبور مقتنيات، منها امرأة دُفنت بسوار زجاجي وخرزة عقيق، وأخرى وُضع تحت مرفقها لوح صلاة شيعي من الطين. ولم يبقَ لأيٍّ منها معلَمٌ فوق الأرض، وإن رجّحت كيرفران أنّها حملت يوماً تُوابيتَ رمزية أو قامت داخل مصلّيات جنائزية؛ وقد أُرِّخ أحد هذه المصلّيات، وفيه أربع بنى قبورية مدرّجة من الجبس والحجر، بالقرن الرابع عشر الميلادي طبقياً.

The burials at the Al-Khamis Mosque were divided by Kervran between an Umayyad/Abbasid phase beneath the walls and floors and a later phase marked by the inscribed rectangular stones catalogued here under the code KHA. The Umayyad attribution can be set aside; a few sub-mosque burials may be Abbasid, but the great majority are thirteenth-century AD or later, matching the chronology of the mosque itself.

وقسّمت كيرفران مدافن مسجد الخميس إلى طور أموي/عبّاسي تحت الجدران والأرضيات، وطور لاحق تميّزه الشواهد المستطيلة المنقوشة المفهرسة هنا برمز KHA. والنسبة الأموية يمكن صرفها؛ وقد يكون بعض المدافن تحت المسجد عبّاسياً، غير أنّ جمهرتها العظمى ترجع إلى القرن الثالث عشر الميلادي فما بعد، بما يوافق تسلسل المسجد نفسه.

The fullest earlier study is Ludvik Kalus's survey of all the Arabic inscriptions then known in Bahrain, which included thirty-six inscribed gravestones in nine locations. Some of those stones have since been moved or have disappeared in the twenty-five to thirty years that followed. Where they could be relocated and identified they are cross-referenced in the catalogue and given fresh translations here.

وأوفى الدراسات السابقة مسحُ لودفيك كالوس لكلّ النقوش العربية المعروفة حينئذٍ في البحرين، وقد ضمّ ستة وثلاثين شاهداً منقوشاً في تسعة مواقع. وقد نُقل بعض تلك الشواهد أو اختفى في الخمس والعشرين إلى الثلاثين سنة التالية. وحيثما أمكن تحديد موضعها والتعرّف عليها أُحيل إليها في الفهرس وقُدّمت لها ترجمات جديدة.

٣. التسلسل الزمني3. Chronology

Bahrain had a deep pre-Islamic habit of marking the dead, beginning with the Early Dilmun burial mounds of about 2300–2000 BC. But between the last pre-Islamic grave stelae, the Tylos-period figurative markers of probably the second to third centuries AD, and the first dated Muslim gravestone on the island there is a gap of some seven centuries.

كان للبحرين تقليد راسخ في تعليم قبور الموتى قبل الإسلام، يبدأ بمدافن دلمون المبكّرة الرَّكامية نحو ٢٣٠٠–٢٠٠٠ق.م. غير أنّ بين آخر الشواهد الجنائزية قبل الإسلام — أي الشواهد التصويرية من عصر تايلوس المؤرَّخة على الأرجح بالقرنين الثاني والثالث الميلاديين — وأوّلِ شاهد قبر إسلامي مؤرَّخ في الجزيرة فجوةً تناهز سبعة قرون.

If the tradition that Bahrainis embraced Islam after the Prophet's letter of 7 AH/628 AD is accepted, nearly four hundred years pass without a dated gravestone. Four explanations are possible: such stones did not survive; they have not yet been found; the dead were not commemorated at all; or they were commemorated with uncarved stones, pebbles, low enclosure walls, palm fronds or pots, all attested as grave markers elsewhere in the Islamic Middle East.

وإذا سُلّم بالرواية القائلة إنّ أهل البحرين أسلموا بعد كتاب النبيّ ﷺ سنة ٧هـ/٦٢٨م، مضت قرابة أربعمئة سنة بلا شاهد مؤرَّخ. وأربعة تفسيرات ممكنة: أن تلك الشواهد لم تصمد، أو أنّها لم تُكتشف بعد، أو أنّ الموتى لم يُعلَّم لهم أصلاً، أو أنّهم عُلِّم لهم بحجارة غير منقوشة أو حصى أو جدران واطئة أو سعف نخل أو فَخّار، وكلّها موثّقة معالمَ قبورٍ في مواضع أخرى من الشرق الإسلامي.

Forty-nine of the gravestones carry dates, spanning 407 AH/1016 AD to 1236 AH/1821 AD. The earliest, KHA6, is phrased in terms that point unmistakably to Shiʿa belief, yet its date shows that the rise of funerary epigraphy in Bahrain was not tied to the tenth-century expansion of the major Shiʿi polities such as the Fatimids, the Qarmatians, the Buyids and the Hamdanids.

ويحمل تسعة وأربعون شاهداً تواريخَ تمتدّ من ٤٠٧هـ/١٠١٦م إلى ١٢٣٦هـ/١٨٢١م. وأقدمها KHA6 مصوغ بعبارات تدلّ دلالة قاطعة على معتقد شيعي، غير أنّ تاريخه يبيّن أنّ نشأة الكتابة الجنائزية في البحرين لم ترتبط بتمدّد الدول الشيعية الكبرى في القرن العاشر كالفاطميين والقرامطة والبويهيين والحمدانيين.

The dated stones increase gradually: one each in the fifth and seventh centuries AH, five in the eighth, three in the ninth, six in the tenth, and seventeen in the eleventh, before falling to thirteen in the twelfth and three in the thirteenth century AH. The eleventh/seventeenth-century peak coincides largely with Safavid rule over Bahrain between 1602 and 1717 AD.

وتتزايد الشواهد المؤرَّخة تدرّجاً: واحد في كلٍّ من القرنين الخامس والسابع الهجريين، وخمسة في الثامن، وثلاثة في التاسع، وستّة في العاشر، وسبعة عشر في الحادي عشر، ثمّ تهبط إلى ثلاثة عشر في الثاني عشر وثلاثة في الثالث عشر الهجري. وتتوافق ذروة القرن الحادي عشر/السابع عشر في معظمها مع الحكم الصفوي للبحرين بين ١٦٠٢ و١٧١٧م.

The Safavids are known to have patronised Shiʿa art in the shrines of Iran and, until its loss to the Ottomans, in Iraq as well, which makes the correlation suggestive. It is likely that the Shiʿa communities using stones such as KHA6 lived alongside Sunni Muslims who did not commemorate their dead in the same fashion, and whose graves therefore leave far less epigraphic trace.

ومعلوم أنّ الصفويين رعوا الفنّ الشيعي في مزارات إيران، وفي العراق كذلك إلى أن خسروه للعثمانيين، وهو ما يجعل هذا التوافق ذا دلالة. والأرجح أنّ الجماعات الشيعية التي استعملت شواهد من طراز KHA6 عاشت إلى جانب مسلمين سنّة لم يخلّدوا موتاهم على النحو نفسه، فلم تترك قبورهم من الأثر الكتابي إلا القليل.

In the largest contemporary Sunni cemeteries surveyed, at Manama and Hunaniyah in East Riffa, modern inscribed stones do occur, but uninscribed head and foot markers predominate: unworked slabs of faroush, the natural seabed crust of sand, lime muds, shells and carbonate cement, or pointed cement markers.

وفي أكبر المقابر السنّية المعاصرة المشمولة بالمسح، في المنامة والحنينية بالرفاع الشرقي، تُصادَف شواهد حديثة منقوشة، غير أنّ الغالب علاماتُ رأسٍ وقدمٍ غير منقوشة: ألواح غير مشغولة من الفَروش، وهي قشرة قاع البحر الطبيعية المتكوّنة من الرمل والأطيان الجيرية والأصداف والأسمنت الكربوناتي، أو علامات إسمنتية مدبّبة.

Fig. 1.2 Variety of gravestones in the Sunni cemetery, Manama. These include faroush and

Only two gravestones pre-dating 1900 AD are definitely Sunni, and both commemorate members of the Al-Khalifa ruling family: HUN1 and SHAM-ALK. Their rarity probably reflects the doctrinal reluctance to commemorate the dead, though that position has been understood and applied in widely varying ways, and numerous exceptions across the Islamic world show inscribed stones in Sunni or near-exclusively Sunni settings.

ولا يُقطع بسنّية إلا شاهدين سابقين لسنة ١٩٠٠م، وكلاهما لعضوين من أسرة آل خليفة الحاكمة: HUN1 وSHAM-ALK. وندرتهما راجعة على الأرجح إلى التحفّظ الفقهي في تخليد الموتى، وإن تباينت أفهام هذا الموقف وتطبيقاته تبايناً واسعاً، وإن دلّت استثناءات كثيرة في العالم الإسلامي على استعمال الشواهد المنقوشة في سياقات سنّية أو تكاد.

٤. أنماط شواهد القبور4. Types of Gravestone

Of the 150 gravestones recorded, 139 are rectangular. Where length could be measured, sixty-eight fall between 100 and 149 cm and forty-four between 150 and 199 cm; three exceed 200 cm and five are shorter than a metre. Widths cluster between 21 and 40 cm and heights between 31 and 50 cm. On finished rectangular stones inscriptions appear on all five available surfaces unless erosion or damage intervened.

من الشواهد الموثّقة البالغة مئة وخمسين، مئة وتسعة وثلاثون مستطيلة الشكل. وحيث أمكن قياس الطول، وقع ثمانية وستّون بين ١٠٠ و١٤٩ سم، وأربعة وأربعون بين ١٥٠ و١٩٩ سم؛ وتجاوز ثلاثة مئتَي سنتيمتر، وقصر خمسة عن المتر. وتتجمّع العروض بين ٢١ و٤٠ سم، والارتفاعات بين ٣١ و٥٠ سم. وفي الشواهد المستطيلة المكتملة تظهر النقوش على الأوجه الخمسة كلّها ما لم يعترض تآكل أو تلف.

The stones were cut either as a single slab or as two slabs set end to end. Single-slab examples predominate at ninety, against thirty double-slab stones, seventeen halves of double stones, and five fragments belonging to two further gravestones whose original form cannot now be determined.

ونُحتت الشواهد إمّا لوحاً واحداً وإمّا لوحين متلاصقين طرفاً بطرف. وتغلب النماذج ذات اللوح الواحد بتسعين شاهداً، مقابل ثلاثين شاهداً ذا لوحين، وسبعة عشر نصفاً من شواهد مزدوجة، وخمس كِسَر تعود إلى شاهدين آخرين تعذّر تحديد شكلهما الأصلي.

Fig. 1.3 Example of a single slab gravestone, ABN18

The remaining ten comprise one concrete block, two gypsum panels, one double-slab stone carved on a single face and fixed to a hollow cement structure, and six flat gravestones. Three of the flat stones are modern laser-etched marble slabs commemorating people who died before 1900 AD; of the three pre-modern flat stones one appears to be imported sandstone and two were described by local informants as Iranian in origin.

أمّا العشرة الباقية فهي كتلة إسمنتية واحدة، ولوحان من الجبس، وشاهد ذو لوحين منقوش على وجه واحد مثبّت على بنية إسمنتية مجوّفة، وستّة شواهد مسطّحة. وثلاثة من المسطّحة ألواح رخامية حديثة محفورة بالليزر تخلّد أشخاصاً توفّوا قبل سنة ١٩٠٠م؛ ومن الثلاثة ما قبل الحديثة واحد يبدو من حجر رملي مستورد، واثنان وصفهما مخبرون محلّيون بأنّهما إيرانيّا المنشأ.

Fig. 1.4 Example of a double slab gravestone, ABN5

Why some stones were cut from one slab and others from two is unknown, though size may be the factor. The largest single slab, ABN45, measures 227 by 57 by 21 cm; the largest double, ABN21, reaches a combined 202 by 51 by 31 cm. Paired slabs are usually of comparable size, but ABN48 combined slabs of identical length with heights of 54 and 35 cm.

ولا يُعرف سببُ نحت بعض الشواهد من لوح واحد وبعضها من لوحين، وإن كان الحجم عاملاً محتملاً. فأكبر لوح مفرد ABN45 يبلغ ٢٢٧×٥٧×٢١ سم، وأكبر شاهد مزدوج ABN21 يبلغ مجموعُه ٢٠٢×٥١×٣١ سم. واللوحان المتلازمان متقاربا الحجم عادةً، غير أنّ ABN48 جمع لوحين متطابقَي الطول بارتفاعين هما ٥٤ و٣٥ سم.

In every double gravestone the two slabs simply butt against one another, with the single exception of ABN12, which is joined by a carved mortise-and-tenon connection that locks the two halves together. That solution is unique in the corpus and shows an experiment in construction that was evidently not repeated.

وفي كلّ الشواهد المزدوجة يتلاصق اللوحان تلاصقاً بسيطاً، باستثناء وحيد هو ABN12 الموصول بوصلة نقر ولسان منحوتة تشبك النصفين معاً. وهذا الحلّ فريد في المدوّنة، ويكشف عن تجربة إنشائية لم تتكرّر فيما يبدو.

Thirteen hollow gravestones were recorded, definable as cenotaphs, or more broadly as grave covers. Many more are probably hollow, since this could only be established where a stone had shifted, cracked, separated into its two halves, or been excavated so that its underside became visible. Only three were confirmed solid. Hollowing was presumably done to reduce weight during transport.

ووُثِّق ثلاثة عشر شاهداً مجوَّفاً، يمكن تعريفها بأنّها توابيت رمزية، أو على الأعمّ أغطية قبور. والأرجح أنّ المجوّف أكثر من ذلك بكثير، إذ لا يتبيّن التجويف إلا حيث انزاح الشاهد أو تشقّق أو انفصل نصفاه أو نُقّب عنه فبان أسفله. ولم يُتحقّق من صَلابة إلا ثلاثة. والظاهر أنّ التجويف قُصد به تخفيف الوزن أثناء النقل.

Circular holes were drilled into five stones, singly on JBH4, KHA15, MUS6 and MUS12 and several times on TUB1. The idea that these took a carrying rod was abandoned: such holes would be expected to pass right through, which they do not, and they would disfigure the epigraphy. Their purpose remains unexplained.

وحُفرت ثقوب دائرية في خمسة شواهد: واحد في كلٍّ من JBH4 وKHA15 وMUS6 وMUS12، وعدّة ثقوب في TUB1. وقد صُرف الظنّ بأنّها لإدخال قضيب حمل، إذ كان يُتوقّع نفاذها إلى الجهة الأخرى وهي لا تنفذ، ولأنّها تشوّه الكتابة. فبقي الغرض منها بلا تفسير.

The dominant orientation, in sixty cases, is northwest to southeast, followed by forty-eight north-northwest to south-southeast, twelve north to south, two northeast to southwest, and one each in two further alignments. Measured against present practice, in which the head lies north, the face turns west towards the qibla and the feet lie south, many of the recorded orientations approximate the ideal closely.

والتوجيه الغالب، في ستّين حالة، من الشمال الغربي إلى الجنوب الشرقي، يليه ثمانية وأربعون من شمال–شمال غربي إلى جنوب–جنوب شرقي، واثنا عشر من الشمال إلى الجنوب، واثنان من الشمال الشرقي إلى الجنوب الغربي، وواحد في كلٍّ من توجيهين آخرين. وقياساً بالممارسة المعاصرة، حيث الرأس شمالاً والوجه غرباً نحو القبلة والقدمان جنوباً، تقارب كثير من التوجيهات الموثّقة هذا المثال مقاربةً وثيقة.

Twenty-seven gravestones were left unfinished, ranging from stones cut only to the basic rectangular shape with blocks reserved for the raised decoration, to stones lacking only small areas of finishing work. Their style, their limestone, and their dimensions all match the finished examples, indicating that they belong to the same production tradition and period rather than to some separate class.

وتُرك سبعة وعشرون شاهداً غير مكتمل، تتدرّج بين ما قُطع على الشكل المستطيل الأساس فحسب مع إبقاء كتل مخصّصة للزخرفة البارزة، وما لم يبقَ فيه إلا مواضع يسيرة من التشطيب. وأسلوبها وحجرها الجيري ومقاساتها كلّها موافقة للمكتمل منها، ممّا يدلّ على انتمائها إلى تقليد الإنتاج ذاته وعصره لا إلى صنف منفصل.

Why unfinished stones served as grave markers can only be guessed at: cost, the death of the person who commissioned the work, the death of the writer or the engraver. Cost may explain the use of substandard blocks whose surface flaws would have defeated effective carving, as on ABN35. Some may also have been found and reused as markers at a later date.

ولا سبيل إلى معرفة سبب استعمال الشواهد غير المكتملة معالمَ للقبور إلا الظنّ: التكلفة، أو موت مَن طلب العمل، أو موت الكاتب أو النقّاش. وقد تفسّر التكلفة استعمالَ كتل دون المستوى تحول عيوب سطحها دون نقشٍ متقن، كما في ABN35. ويُحتمل أيضاً أنّ بعضها عُثر عليه فأُعيد استعماله علامةً في وقت لاحق.

That reuse would explain why seven of the twelve gravestones in the urban cemetery at Hoora are unfinished, having been collected elsewhere and brought in. In other cases, such as ABN46, unfinished stones had simply been abandoned and were not associated with any burial at all.

وهذا الاستعمال الثاني يفسّر كون سبعة من شواهد مقبرة الحورة الاثني عشر غير مكتملة، إذ جُمعت من مواضع أخرى ونُقلت إليها. وفي حالات أخرى، كـABN46، كانت الشواهد غير المكتملة مهجورة فحسب لا صلة لها بأيّ دفن.

Only two gypsum grave markers appear in the corpus, ASK2 and the two panels of MUS7. The rarity of gypsum may connect with the belief that anything touched by fire is inauspicious because of its association with Hellfire, and that fired materials such as brick and lime dry out the grave; more plainly, stone lasts longer, takes carving well, and was readily available from the Jiddah Island quarry.

ولا يرد في المدوّنة من معالم الجبس إلا اثنان: ASK2 ولوحا MUS7. وقد ترتبط ندرة الجبس بالاعتقاد أنّ كلّ ما مسّته النار مكروه لصلته بنار الآخرة، وأنّ المواد المحروقة كالآجرّ والجير تُجفِّف القبر؛ وأبسط من ذلك أنّ الحجر أطول بقاءً وأطوع للنقش وأيسر توفّراً من محاجر جزيرة جدّة.

Comparanda for the Bahraini rectangular stones are scarce. The closest are the gravestones of Siraf on the southern Iranian coast, which share the grave-cover function and a broadly comparable size range, but differ in being generally earlier (364/975 to 735/1334), made of sandstone or occasionally stucco, carved in floriated Kufic, and often crowned by a stepped crest running the length of the upper surface.

والنظائر المقارنة للشواهد المستطيلة البحرينية نادرة. وأقربها شواهدُ سيراف على الساحل الإيراني الجنوبي، وتشترك معها في وظيفة غطاء القبر وفي مدى حجمي متقارب، غير أنّها تفترق بأنّها أقدم عموماً (٣٦٤/٩٧٥ إلى ٧٣٥/١٣٣٤)، ومصنوعة من الحجر الرملي أو من الجصّ أحياناً، ومنقوشة بالكوفي المورّق، وكثيراً ما يعلوها عُرْف مدرّج ممتدّ بطول السطح العلوي.

٥. أنماط المقابر5. Types of Cemetery

The cemeteries divide into urban and village types. Of the sixteen in which gravestones were recorded, five are urban and eleven are village cemeteries, although Abu Anbra, now counted among the latter, was formerly urban: a reminder that a cemetery's status shifts with the growth and decline of the settlement it serves.

تنقسم المقابر إلى نمطين: حضريّ وقرويّ. فمن الستّ عشرة التي وُثّقت فيها شواهد، خمسٌ حضرية وإحدى عشرة قروية، وإن كانت أبو عنبرة، المعدودة اليوم في القروية، حضريةً فيما مضى؛ وفي ذلك تذكير بأنّ صفة المقبرة تتحوّل بنموّ العمران الذي تخدمه وانحساره.

The distribution map shows a clear clustering of cemeteries and shrines in the northeast of Awal, matching the villages there. Their general absence from the south and centre of the island reflects a different population composition in the centre, predominantly Sunni and expatriate, and thin settlement in the south, compounded by the lack of archaeological work in what is now a restricted zone.

وتُظهر خريطة التوزيع تجمّعاً واضحاً للمقابر والمزارات في شمال شرق أوال، موافقاً لقرى تلك الناحية. أمّا غيابها عموماً عن جنوب الجزيرة ووسطها فيعكس اختلافَ التركيبة السكّانية في الوسط، وهي في الغالب سنّية ووافدة، وقلّةَ الاستيطان في الجنوب، يضاعفهما انعدام العمل الأثري في منطقة صارت اليوم محظورة.

Harder to explain is the total absence of relevant gravestones on Muharraq, an island with evidence of Islamic settlement reaching back to the Umayyad period and with documented urban expansion in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. No satisfactory account of this gap is offered.

والأعسر تفسيراً هو الغياب التامّ للشواهد المعنيّة في المحرّق، وهي جزيرة فيها شواهدُ استيطانٍ إسلامي ترجع إلى العصر الأموي، وتوسّعٌ حضريّ موثّق في أواخر القرن التاسع عشر والقرن العشرين. ولا يُقدَّم لهذه الفجوة تعليل مُقنِع.

Within the cemeteries themselves no past spatial logic can now be recovered, since in most cases the stones have become part of a palimpsest of graves from many periods. Today all these cemeteries are essentially unplanned, though burial plots are allocated according to available space. At Abu Anbra graves are reused: an old grave is reopened and the earlier occupant's bones are moved to a corner of the trench.

ولا سبيل اليوم إلى استعادة منطقٍ مكاني قديم داخل المقابر نفسها، إذ صارت الشواهد في أكثر الأحوال جزءاً من طبقات قبور متراكمة من عصور شتّى. وهذه المقابر كلّها غير مخطّطة في جوهرها اليوم، وإن وُزّعت مواضع الدفن بحسب المتاح من الفراغ. وفي أبو عنبرة يُعاد استعمال القبور: يُفتح القبر القديم وتُنقل عظام صاحبه السابق إلى ركن من الحفرة.

Whether particular areas belong to particular families likewise depends on space. In the two Janusan village cemeteries, where room is plentiful, family plots have developed naturally. In the Deir village cemetery on Muharraq, where space is short, there are no family areas at all and burial position follows simply the sequence in which people died.

وارتباط مساحات بعينها بعائلات بعينها رهنٌ كذلك بالفراغ المتاح. ففي مقبرتَي قرية جنوسان، حيث المتّسع وافر، نشأت مواضع عائلية نشوءاً طبيعياً. وفي مقبرة قرية الدير بالمحرّق، حيث المكان ضيّق، لا مواضع عائلية البتّة، ويتحدّد موضع الدفن بترتيب الوفيات لا غير.

٦. مصادر الحجر وصناعة الشواهد6. Stone Sources and Manufacture

The principal, and possibly the only, source of the limestone used for the gravestones was almost certainly Jiddah Island, some four kilometres northwest of Awal. Its quarries are of considerable antiquity, and the one published survey of them suggests exploitation as early as the second millennium BC. Permission to revisit Jiddah was not granted, so the provenance study comparing the stones with the island's oolitic limestone still awaits future access.

المصدر الرئيس للحجر الجيري المستعمل في الشواهد، ولعلّه الوحيد، هو جزيرة جدّة على الأرجح القريب من اليقين، وتقع نحو أربعة كيلومترات شمال غرب أوال. ومحاجرها موغلة في القدم، ويرجّح المسح الوحيد المنشور عنها أنّها استُغلّت منذ الألفية الثانية قبل الميلاد. ولم يُؤذن بمعاودة زيارة جدّة، فبقيت دراسة المنشأ التي تقارن الشواهد بحجر الجزيرة الجيري الأوّوليتي منتظرةً إذناً في المستقبل.

A rock inscription photographed on Jiddah Island records that in the month of Shaʿban 968 AH the cutting of one hundred thousand stones was completed for the building of the towers of Bahrain Fort, by the hand of a slave, under the government of the grand minister Jalal al-Din Murad Mahmud Shah. The text confirms that the quarries were in full operation in 968/1560, a period from which several of the dated gravestones come.

يسجّل نقش صخري صُوّر في جزيرة جدّة أنّه في شهر شعبان من سنة ٩٦٨هـ تمّ قطعُ مئة ألف حجر لتجديد أبراج قلعة البحرين، على يد العبد، في ولاية الوزير الأعظم جلال الدين مراد محمود شاه. ويؤكّد النصّ أنّ المحاجر كانت في تشغيل كامل سنة ٩٦٨/١٥٦٠، وهي حقبة تنتمي إليها عدّة شواهد مؤرَّخة.

Fully hand-carved inscribed gravestones of this kind are no longer made in Bahrain. Gypsum is still carved by hand, but the craftsmen who work it insist that stone is a wholly different material demanding different skills, which makes reconstructing the labour and time behind a fully inscribed rectangular gravestone difficult in the absence of any living parallel.

ولم تعد تُصنع في البحرين شواهدُ منقوشة منحوتة باليد بالكامل من هذا الطراز. ولا يزال الجبس يُنحت يدوياً، غير أنّ صنّاعه يؤكّدون أنّ الحجر مادّة مغايرة تماماً تتطلّب مهارات أخرى، ممّا يجعل استعادة الجهد والزمن وراء شاهد مستطيل تامّ النقش أمراً عسيراً مع انعدام أيّ نظير حيّ.

A Bahraini stone carver interviewed while cutting a marble gravestone with calligraphy on five faces estimated that a comparable stone carved entirely by hand, including preparing the block, designing and marking out the calligraphy and cutting the letters, would take him two years. That is probably a considerable overestimate for earlier masons, since he does not specialise in gravestones and works mainly with electric chisels.

وقدّر نحّاتُ حجرٍ بحريني، سُئل وهو ينحت شاهداً رخامياً بخطّ على خمسة أوجه، أنّ شاهداً مماثلاً منحوتاً باليد كلّه — بما فيه تهيئة الكتلة وتصميم الخطّ وتخطيطه وحفر الحروف — يستغرقه سنتين. وهذا في الأغلب مبالغة كبيرة في تقدير زمن النحّاتين الأقدمين، إذ لا يتخصّص هو في الشواهد ويعمل غالباً بالأزاميل الكهربائية.

The best comparative account of the chaîne opératoire comes from Iran between 1937 and 1941: the block was trimmed and its surfaces brought to a bright shine, the design copied onto the stone by tracing the lines in Indian ink, the outlines chased with a sharp chisel, the background cut away with profiled hollow chisels, smoothed with bent files, and finally polished with emery cloth.

وأوفى وصف مقارن لسلسلة العمليات يأتي من إيران بين سنتَي ١٩٣٧ و١٩٤١: تُشذَّب الكتلة وتُصقل أوجهها حتّى تلمع، ثمّ يُنقل التصميم إلى الحجر بتتبّع الخطوط بالحبر الهندي، وتُقتفى الحدود بإزميل حادّ، ويُقطع أرضُ النقش بأزاميل مجوّفة مشكّلة، ويُنعَّم بمبارد منحنية، ويُصقل أخيراً بقماش السنباذج.

The twenty-seven unfinished stones preserve several stages of manufacture. The first, cutting the block from the quarry, cannot be seen because every block has been worked further. Saws and chisels were used: ABN35 shows apparent chisel marks on the upper surface and both chisel and saw marks on the long sides.

وتحفظ الشواهد السبعة والعشرون غير المكتملة عدّة أطوار من الصناعة. أمّا الطور الأوّل، وهو قطع الكتلة من المحجر، فلا يُرى لأنّ كلّ كتلة نالها شغل تالٍ. واستُعملت المناشير والأزاميل: ففي ABN35 آثار أزاميل ظاهرة على السطح العلوي، وآثار أزاميل ومناشير على الجانبين الطويلين.

Next the block was cut to a more refined shape, including the rectangular blocks reserved for the raised decoration at each end and, where used, the plinths that supported them. Much of this roughing out was probably done by apprentices and other craftsmen not involved in the final lettering, and the standardised shape, size range and repeated design elements would all have made such a division of labour easy.

ثمّ تُقطع الكتلة إلى شكل أدقّ، بما فيه الكتل المستطيلة المخصّصة للزخرفة البارزة عند الطرفين، والقواعد الحاملة لها حيث استُعملت. والأرجح أنّ كثيراً من هذا التخشين تولّاه صبيان الصنعة وصنّاع آخرون لا شأن لهم بالحفر النهائي للحروف، وأنّ توحيد الشكل ومدى الحجم وتكرار عناصر التصميم يسّر هذا التقسيم للعمل.

The raised decoration was cut after that. ABN8, formed of two limestone slabs, was shaped but left uncarved, probably because the surface would have defeated good carving; at one end the rectangular block still awaits carving while at the other it has been reduced to three flattened facetted cubes. Inscriptions and the shallow niche on the upper surface came last, after being marked out.

ثمّ تُنحت الزخرفة البارزة. فشاهد ABN8، المكوّن من لوحين جيريين، سُوّي شكله وتُرك بلا نقش، وربّما لأنّ سطحه كان يحول دون نحتٍ جيّد؛ فعند أحد طرفيه لا تزال الكتلة المستطيلة تنتظر النحت، وعند الآخر رُدّت إلى ثلاثة مكعّبات مضلّعة مسطّحة. وجاءت النقوش والمحراب الغائر الضحل في السطح العلوي آخراً، بعد تخطيطها.

One stone, ABN5, has three sides fully carved while sides C and D were left blank, suggesting the surfaces were worked one at a time. No evidence of recarving to correct mistakes was found anywhere in the corpus, but quality varies sharply, from the somewhat crude ABN2 to outstanding masterpieces such as QAD2.

وفي شاهد واحد هو ABN5 ثلاثة أوجه منقوشة تماماً، بينما تُرك الوجهان C وD خاليين، ممّا يرجّح أنّ الأوجه كانت تُشتغل وجهاً وجهاً. ولم يُعثر في المدوّنة كلّها على أثر إعادة نحتٍ لتصحيح خطأ، غير أنّ الجودة تتفاوت تفاوتاً حادّاً، من ABN2 الخشن نوعاً ما إلى روائع فائقة مثل QAD2.

٧. الكُتّاب والنقّاشون7. Writers and Engravers

Naming the carver is described in the literature as a rare occurrence in Arabic funerary epitaphs, which makes the Bahraini corpus exceptional: the names of writers and engravers appear on thirty-two gravestones. Twenty-two carry both names, two the writer's name alone and six the engraver's alone, and in those eight cases the missing name is almost certainly lost to damage or erosion rather than deliberately omitted.

يُوصف ذكرُ اسم النقّاش في الأدبيات بأنّه نادر في الكتابات الجنائزية العربية، وهو ما يجعل المدوّنة البحرينية استثنائية: فأسماء الكُتّاب والنقّاشين ترد على اثنين وثلاثين شاهداً. يحمل اثنان وعشرون منها الاسمين معاً، واثنان اسم الكاتب وحده، وستّة اسم النقّاش وحده؛ وفي هذه الثماني الحالات يكاد يُقطع بأنّ الاسم الغائب ضاع بالتلف أو التآكل لا بالحذف المتعمّد.

Fifteen individual writers appear to have signed the stones. The most prolific is Husayn bin ʿAli bin Zayn al-Din al-Bahrani, named on six gravestones, though in four of them without the nisba al-Bahrani. Five of the six are dated (ABN1, ABN32, JBH10, JBH12, TUB1), and they show him at work between at least 1090/1679 and 1103/1691.

ويبدو أنّ خمسة عشر كاتباً وقّعوا على الشواهد. وأغزرهم إنتاجاً حسين بن علي بن زين الدين البحراني، وقد ورد اسمه على ستّة شواهد، وإن خلا في أربعة منها من نسبة «البحراني». وخمسة من الستّة مؤرَّخة (ABN1 وABN32 وJBH10 وJBH12 وTUB1)، وتدلّ على أنّه كان يعمل بين سنة ١٠٩٠/١٦٧٩ على الأقلّ وسنة ١١٠٣/١٦٩١.

All five dated stones written by him were engraved by the same craftsman, al-Sayyid Naser bin al-Sayyid Hashim al-Husayni, with one exception in the detail: on JBH10 side E is signed by al-Sayyid Naser while side C is signed by another engraver, Muhammad Saʿid. This is the only instance in the corpus of two engravers sharing a single gravestone.

وقد نقش الشواهد الخمسة المؤرَّخة التي كتبها كلَّها الصانعُ نفسه: السيّد ناصر بن السيّد هاشم الحسيني، مع استثناء واحد في التفصيل؛ ففي JBH10 وقّع السيّد ناصر الوجهَ E بينما وقّع الوجهَ C نقّاشٌ آخر هو محمّد سعيد. وهذه الحالة الوحيدة في المدوّنة التي يتشارك فيها نقّاشان شاهداً واحداً.

The pair raise a puzzle in JBH12, dated 1002/1593, nearly a century earlier than the other stones they worked on. Neither a working life of that length nor two craftsmen with identical names a hundred years apart is plausible, so the stone was most likely commissioned and carved long after the death it commemorates, a reading supported by its style and carving, which match the other four.

ويثير هذان الصانعان إشكالاً في JBH12 المؤرَّخ بسنة ١٠٠٢/١٥٩٣، أي قبل سائر الشواهد التي عملا فيها بنحو قرن. ولا يُعقل امتداد عمر مهني بهذا الطول، ولا وجود صانعَين متطابقَي الاسم يفصل بينهما مئة عام؛ فالأرجح أنّ الشاهد طُلب ونُحت بعد الوفاة التي يخلّدها بمدّة طويلة، وهو قراءة يسندها أسلوبه ونحته الموافقان للأربعة الأخرى.

The next most frequent writer, on three stones, is ʿAli bin Abdullah bin ʿAbd al-Samad al-Asbaʿi al-Bahrani, signing twice in shortened or incomplete forms; two of his stones are dated 1106/1694 and 1113/1701. One further writer, Masʾud, signs two stones, one dated 985/1577, and the ʿAli bin Husayn bin Zayn al-Din of ABN40 is probably the ʿAli bin Husayn of SYA1.

ويليه في التكرار، على ثلاثة شواهد، عليّ بن عبد الله بن عبد الصمد الأصبعي البحراني، ووقّع مرّتين بصيغ مختصرة أو ناقصة؛ واثنان من شواهده مؤرَّخان بسنة ١١٠٦/١٦٩٤ و١١١٣/١٧٠١. ووقّع كاتب آخر هو مسعود على شاهدين، أحدهما مؤرَّخ بسنة ٩٨٥/١٥٧٧، والأرجح أنّ «عليّ بن حسين بن زين الدين» في ABN40 هو «عليّ بن حسين» في SYA1.

The engravers' names are harder to disentangle because so many resemble one another, are given in varying forms, and survive only in fragments. One stands out: al-Sayyid Naser bin al-Sayyid Hashim al-Husayni, whose full name is carved on six stones (ABN1, ABN32, JBH10, JBH12, KHA7, TUB1) and who is identified as the engraver on five of them; on ABN32 the attribution is lost, but the style is certainly his.

أمّا أسماء النقّاشين فأعسر تمييزاً لشدّة تشابه كثير منها، ولورودها بصيغ متباينة، ولبقائها كِسَراً. ويبرز منها واحد: السيّد ناصر بن السيّد هاشم الحسيني، المنقوش اسمه كاملاً على ستّة شواهد (ABN1 وABN32 وJBH10 وJBH12 وKHA7 وTUB1)، وهو موصوف بالنقّاش في خمسة منها؛ وفي ABN32 ضاعت النسبة، غير أنّ الأسلوب أسلوبه قطعاً.

He is also probably the al-Sayyid Naser bin al-Sayyid of ABN40, the al-Sayyid Naser bin Hashim of ABN41 and the al-Sayyid Naser of ABN3 and ABS1. Only ABN40 among these is dated, to 1110/1698, which extends his recorded working life to some nineteen or twenty years, from 1090/1679: an entirely realistic span for a single craftsman.

ويغلب أنّه أيضاً «السيّد ناصر بن السيّد» في ABN40، و«السيّد ناصر بن هاشم» في ABN41، و«السيّد ناصر» في ABN3 وABS1. ولا مؤرَّخ من هذه إلا ABN40 بسنة ١١١٠/١٦٩٨، وبه يمتدّ عمره المهني الموثّق إلى نحو تسع عشرة أو عشرين سنة ابتداءً من ١٠٩٠/١٦٧٩؛ وهي مدّة واقعية تماماً لصانع واحد.

The four stones bearing his shortened signature share well-defined raised decoration, good proportions and crisp carving with the six that carry his full name. On the strength of that work he deserves to be called a master carver, which may be why he was chosen to carve KHA7 for the occupant of the shrine excavated in the Al-Khamis Mosque precinct.

والشواهد الأربعة التي تحمل توقيعه المختصر تشترك مع الستّة التي تحمل اسمه كاملاً في وضوح الزخرفة البارزة وحسن التناسب وحدّة النحت. وبموجب هذا العمل يستحقّ أن يُسمّى نقّاشاً أستاذاً، ولعلّ هذا سببُ اختياره لنحت KHA7 لصاحب المزار المنقَّب في حرم مسجد الخميس.

The gravestones produced by Husayn bin ʿAli as writer and al-Sayyid Naser as engraver cluster tightly in northwest Awal, in the cemeteries of Abu Anbra, Abu Saiba, Jebelat Habshi, Al-Khamis and Tubli: a distribution that suggests a workshop serving a defined district rather than the island as a whole.

وتتجمّع الشواهد التي أنتجها حسين بن علي كاتباً والسيّد ناصر نقّاشاً تجمّعاً وثيقاً في شمال غرب أوال، في مقابر أبو عنبرة وأبو صيبع وجبلة حبشي والخميس وتوبلي؛ وهو توزيع يرجّح ورشةً تخدم ناحية محدّدة لا الجزيرة كلّها.

Where both names occur, the writer's name is given precedence on fourteen stones and the engraver's on eight. Whether this reflects greater prestige for the writer or simply the order of the work is unknown. The separation of writer from carver is attested elsewhere: in fifteenth-century Malaysia a secretary drafted the text and traced it onto the stone for a letter carver to cut.

وحيث يرد الاسمان معاً، يُقدَّم اسم الكاتب في أربعة عشر شاهداً واسم النقّاش في ثمانية. ولا يُعرف أذلك لعلوّ منزلة الكاتب أم لمجرّد ترتيب العمل. والفصل بين الكاتب والنقّاش موثّق في غير البحرين: ففي ماليزيا القرن الخامس عشر كان كاتب يحرّر النصّ ويخطّه على الحجر ليحفره حفّار الحروف.

Whether all these men were Bahraini is unclear, since artisans travelled widely. Yet a number of the nisbas point home: al-Bahrani appears with both writers and engravers, al-Asbaʿi refers to the village of Abu Saiba, Aljedhafsi to Jidhafs, and al-Manami possibly to Manama, the present capital.

ولا يتبيّن أكان هؤلاء جميعاً بحرينيين، فقد كان الصنّاع كثيري الترحال. غير أنّ عدداً من النِّسَب يدلّ على الأصل: فـ«البحراني» ترد مع الكُتّاب والنقّاشين معاً، و«الأصبعي» نسبة إلى قرية أبو صيبع، و«الجدحفصي» إلى جدحفص، و«المنامي» لعلّها إلى المنامة عاصمة اليوم.

٨. الخطّ والكتابة والمضمون8. Script, Epigraphy and Content

Every inscription in the corpus is carved in cursive Thuluth. The script was first formulated in the seventh century AD but reached full development only in the late ninth, and is widely used on materials other than stone, including earthenware, stucco, brass and bronze, paper and parchment. Its uniform use across eight centuries of Bahraini gravestones is itself striking.

كلّ نقوش المدوّنة محفورة بخطّ الثلث الليّن. وقد صيغ هذا الخطّ أوّل ما صيغ في القرن السابع الميلادي، ولم يكتمل نضجه إلا في أواخر التاسع، وهو شائع على موادّ غير الحجر كالفَخّار والجصّ والنحاس الأصفر والبرونز والورق والرقّ. واطّراد استعماله عبر ثمانية قرون من شواهد البحرين لافت في ذاته.

The stones follow the standard funerary formula, with the writer's and engraver's names added on some: the invocation or basmala; introductory phrases, usually Quranic verses on judgement and resurrection; the name of the deceased; and eulogies. Within that frame the individual stones vary enormously in length, ancestry given, and the amount of endowment detail included.

وتتّبع الشواهد الصيغة الجنائزية المعيارية، مع إضافة اسمَي الكاتب والنقّاش في بعضها: البسملة، ثمّ عبارات استهلالية غالبها آيات في الحساب والبعث، ثمّ اسم المتوفّى، ثمّ عبارات الرثاء والدعاء. وضمن هذا الإطار تتفاوت الشواهد تفاوتاً هائلاً في الطول وفي امتداد النسب المذكور وفي قدر تفاصيل الوقف المضمَّنة.

Certain Quranic passages recur constantly. Five appear ten times or more. The most frequent is Ayat al-Kursi, the Throne Verse (2:255), carved sixty-eight times, matching patterns observed on Islamic gravestones elsewhere. It is followed by 41:30–32 from Surat Fussilat with forty-two uses, 38:50–54 from Surat Sad with twenty-eight, 9:21–22 from Surat al-Tawbah with twenty-three, and 13:23–24 from Surat al-Raʿd with ten.

وتتكرّر مقاطع قرآنية بعينها تكراراً مطّرداً. وخمسة منها ترد عشر مرّات فأكثر. وأكثرها وروداً آيةُ الكرسي (٢:٢٥٥) منقوشةً ثماني وستّين مرّة، بما يوافق أنماطاً مرصودة على شواهد إسلامية في غير البحرين. تليها الآيات ٤١:٣٠–٣٢ من سورة فُصِّلت باثنتين وأربعين مرّة، ثمّ ٣٨:٥٠–٥٤ من سورة ص بثمانٍ وعشرين، ثمّ ٩:٢١–٢٢ من سورة التوبة بثلاث وعشرين، ثمّ ١٣:٢٣–٢٤ من سورة الرعد بعشر.

Fifteen gravestones commemorate women and thirty-six men, judged from the names and from the pronouns used of the deceased. No difference in size, epigraphic style or decoration follows from gender. Sizes vary, as described, but the content of the inscriptions indicates that these stones were made for adults only.

ويخلّد خمسة عشر شاهداً نساءً وستّة وثلاثون رجالاً، استدلالاً بالأسماء وبالضمائر العائدة على المتوفّى. ولا يترتّب على الجنس فرقٌ في الحجم ولا في أسلوب الكتابة ولا في الزخرفة. وتتفاوت المقاسات كما مرّ، غير أنّ مضمون النقوش يدلّ على أنّ هذه الشواهد لم تُصنع إلا للبالغين.

Thirty-two stones refer to economic data, geographical locations, or both: seventeen mention both categories, six economic data alone and nine locations alone. Both kinds of information relate mainly to endowments and their returns, described precisely on some stones such as ABN3 and TUB1, and vaguely on others such as MUS5 and KAR5.

ويشير اثنان وثلاثون شاهداً إلى معطيات اقتصادية أو مواضع جغرافية أو إليهما معاً: سبعة عشر تذكر الصنفين، وستّة المعطيات الاقتصادية وحدها، وتسعة المواضع وحدها. وكلا الصنفين متّصل في الأغلب بالأوقاف وغلّاتها، موصوفاً وصفاً دقيقاً في شواهد كـABN3 وTUB1، ومبهماً في أخرى كـMUS5 وKAR5.

ABN3 states that the proceeds of the endowment, fifteen mann of dates from the al-Shatba palms, are to be spent on a daily reading of the Quran. ABN40 similarly directs that two baskets, presumably of dates, fund the daily reading of two parts of the Quran, one basket from the al-Kharajat garden, half from the western garden and half from the eastern garden and al-sabkha.

ينصّ ABN3 على أنّ غلّة الوقف، وهي خمسة عشر مَنّاً من التمر من نخل الشطبة، تُصرف في قراءة القرآن كلّ يوم. ويوجّه ABN40 مثل ذلك: أن تُصرف سلّتان، يُفترض أنّهما من التمر، في قراءة جزأين من القرآن يومياً، سلّة من بستان الخراجات، ونصف من البستان الغربي، ونصف من الشرقي والسبخة.

Besides the mann and the basket, the measures named include the Muhammadiyah, mentioned on KHA7 where fifteen from the income of the al-Mahall palms are to be used for the same purpose, and the qiran or Muhammadi qiran on ABN6 and ABN1. The mann was an important weight throughout the Islamic world, especially in the Persian east, ranging from about 816 grams to over six kilograms.

وإلى جانب المَنّ والسلّة، من المكاييل المذكورة «المحمّدية»، وردت في KHA7 حيث تُصرف خمس عشرة منها من غلّة نخل المَحَلّ في الغرض نفسه، و«القِران» أو «القِران المحمّدي» في ABN6 وABN1. وكان المَنّ وحدة وزن مهمّة في أرجاء العالم الإسلامي، ولا سيّما في المشرق الفارسي، تراوحت بين نحو ٨١٦ غراماً وما يزيد على ستّة كيلوغرامات.

The place names are varied; ABN31, for instance, refers to the people of al-Ukul Island, now identified as Nabi Salih Island in Tubli Bay east of Awal. Following the book's stated principle, this locational evidence is recorded but not interpreted, so that others may build on it.

وتتنوّع أسماء المواضع؛ فـABN31 مثلاً يشير إلى أهل جزيرة الأُكُل، وهي اليوم جزيرة النبي صالح في خليج توبلي شرق أوال. والتزاماً بالمبدأ الذي أعلنه الكتاب، تُسجَّل هذه الشواهد المكانية ولا تُؤوَّل، ليبني عليها غيرُ المؤلّفين.

Comparing the historical stones with modern ones shows a decisive change driven by available surface. Modern marble gravestones offer a single small machine-cut panel, against five usable faces on the older rectangular stones. That is why the long ancestries, the poems and the eulogies found on the historical corpus could not possibly be accommodated today.

وتكشف الموازنة بين الشواهد التاريخية والحديثة عن تحوّل حاسم سببه المساحة المتاحة. فالشاهد الرخامي الحديث لا يتيح إلا لوحة صغيرة واحدة تُحفر آلياً، مقابل خمسة أوجه صالحة في الشواهد المستطيلة القديمة. ولهذا يستحيل اليوم استيعاب الأنساب الطويلة والأشعار والمراثي الواردة في المدوّنة التاريخية.

٩. الأيقونية والزخرفة9. Iconography and Decoration

The deep relief carving that dominates the corpus has helped the inscriptions and their ornament survive, as it has in other Islamic epigraphic contexts. On thirty-five gravestones a shallow recessed niche is cut into the upper surface, rounded on thirteen and pointed on twenty-one, and terminating in a dome on one only, ABN48.

أسهم النحت الغائر البارز الغالب على المدوّنة في بقاء النقوش وزخارفها، كما أسهم في سياقات كتابية إسلامية أخرى. وفي خمسة وثلاثين شاهداً حُفر محراب غائر ضحل في السطح العلوي، مستديرُ الرأس في ثلاثة عشر ومدبّبٌ في واحد وعشرين، ولا ينتهي بقبّة إلا في واحد هو ABN48.

On a further seventeen stones a probable niche design survives only as a partial shallow rectangular panel, its defining terminal lost to erosion or damage, as on ABN12. Complexity varies: most niches are defined by a single carved border line, as on ABN40, or a double one, as on ABN47.

وفي سبعة عشر شاهداً آخر لا يبقى من تصميم المحراب المرجَّح إلا لوحة مستطيلة ضحلة ناقصة، ضاع رأسها المميِّز بالتآكل أو التلف، كما في ABN12. وتتفاوت درجة التعقيد: فأكثر المحاريب يحدّه خطّ إطار واحد منحوت كما في ABN40، أو خطّان كما في ABN47.

More rarely, ornate elements are added: an arrow carved within a small rectangle above the rounded end of the niche on KAR5, or a flower or abstract symbol at the point of the niche on MUS6. The niche is most probably a mihrab, a motif found on other Shiʿa gravestones and described at the Dar al-Salam cemetery in Shiraz as a metaphor for a window onto the divine light.

وعلى ندرة تُضاف عناصر مزخرفة: سهم منحوت داخل مستطيل صغير فوق طرف المحراب المستدير في KAR5، أو زهرة أو رمز تجريدي عند رأس المحراب في MUS6. والأرجح أنّ هذا التجويف محرابٌ، وهو عنصر موجود على شواهد شيعية أخرى، ووُصف في مقبرة دار السلام بشيراز بأنّه استعارة لنافذة على النور الإلهي.

Fig. 1.5 Example of raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes with a central rounded arch

There is remarkable continuity in the design of the rectangular stones across the roughly 680 years separating KHA6 (407/1016) from ABN4 (1113/1702): not only in the rectangular form itself, but in the continued use of the recessed panel on the upper surface and in comparable forms of raised decoration from KHA6 through to ABN40 (1108/1697), the last completely intact example recorded.

وثمّة اطّراد لافت في تصميم الشواهد المستطيلة عبر نحو ستّمئة وثمانين سنة تفصل KHA6 (٤٠٧/١٠١٦) عن ABN4 (١١١٣/١٧٠٢): لا في الشكل المستطيل وحده، بل في استمرار اللوحة الغائرة في السطح العلوي، وفي تماثل صيغ الزخرفة البارزة من KHA6 إلى ABN40 (١١٠٨/١٦٩٧)، وهو آخر نموذج سليم تماماً موثَّق.

Three-element raised decoration was identified on sixty gravestones, normally at both ends unless one end was broken or cut away. On forty-nine it consists of two facetted cubes flanking a central rounded arch of varying thickness, and on twenty-five of those the whole group is set on a supplementary rectangular plinth.

وتُبيِّنت الزخرفة البارزة الثلاثية العناصر في ستّين شاهداً، وعادةً عند الطرفين معاً ما لم يُكسر أحدهما أو يُقطع. وفي تسعة وأربعين منها تتكوّن من مكعّبين مضلّعين يكتنفان قوساً مستديراً متفاوت السُّمك، وفي خمسة وعشرين من هذه توضع المجموعة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة إضافية.

Variants include three facetted cubes (ABN6), two short collared cylinders with a central rounded arch (ABN11), two facetted cubes with a central thin raised point (ABN29), two facetted cubes and a central flat slab (HOO8), two facetted cubes with cup marks carved on top (KHA23), and two triangles with a central point (MUS2). The exceptionally carved QAD2 adds star motifs and calligraphy on the rear of all three elements.

ومن التنويعات: ثلاثة مكعّبات مضلّعة (ABN6)، وأسطوانتان قصيرتان مطوّقتان بينهما قوس مستدير (ABN11)، ومكعّبان مضلّعان بينهما رأس بارز رفيع (ABN29)، ومكعّبان مضلّعان بينهما لوح مسطّح (HOO8)، ومكعّبان مضلّعان في أعلاهما نُقَر كأسية (KHA23)، ومثلّثان بينهما رأس مدبّب (MUS2). ويزيد QAD2 الفائق النحت زخارفَ نجمية وخطّاً على ظهر العناصر الثلاثة جميعاً.

No true parallel for this three-element decoration has been found elsewhere. Dhofar in Oman offers a partial exception, where a central flattened point flanked by half points, or a central semicircle flanked by half semicircles, decorate the tops of flat slab gravestones; but the resemblance goes no further than the use of three elements.

ولم يُعثر لهذه الزخرفة الثلاثية على نظير حقيقي في غير البحرين. ويقدّم ظفار في عُمان استثناءً جزئياً، حيث يزيّن أعلى الشواهد المسطّحة رأسٌ مدبّب مسطّح يكتنفه نصفا رأس، أو نصف دائرة مركزية يكتنفها نصفا دائرة؛ غير أنّ الشبه لا يتجاوز استعمال العناصر الثلاثة.

The removal of the raised decoration on some stones may reflect changing fashion, deliberate iconoclasm, or a shift in funerary tradition that stripped away purely ornamental elements. Fifteen stones definitely had it cut off at one or both ends, on nine it is unclear whether it was broken or cut, and nineteen retain only eroded and unidentifiable remains.

وقد يعكس إزالةُ الزخرفة البارزة في بعض الشواهد تحوّلاً في الذوق، أو تحطيماً متعمّداً للصور، أو تغيّراً في التقاليد الجنائزية نزع العناصر الزخرفية المحضة. فخمسة عشر شاهداً قُطعت زخرفتها قطعاً مؤكّداً عند طرف أو طرفين، وتسعة لا يتبيّن أكُسرت أم قُطعت، وتسعة عشر لا يبقى فيها إلا بقايا متآكلة لا تُعرَف.

Five of the fifteen stones stripped of their decoration are dated, and all belong to the early twelfth century AH, the late seventeenth to early eighteenth centuries AD. Such tight chronological clustering may be historically significant, but what it signifies is unknown.

وخمسة من الشواهد الخمسة عشر المنزوعة الزخرفة مؤرَّخة، وكلّها من أوائل القرن الثاني عشر الهجري، أي أواخر السابع عشر وأوائل الثامن عشر الميلادي. وقد يكون هذا التجمّع الزمني الوثيق ذا دلالة تاريخية، غير أنّ دلالته مجهولة.

Colour was used to strengthen the lettering on five stones: red pigment on one face of DAI1 and KHA23, on two faces of KAR3, and on three faces of KHA6 and MUS11. Whether these represent chance survival or the entire original sample is unknown, though the apparently random distribution of coloured faces points to preservation rather than deliberate choice.

واستُعمل اللون لتقوية الحروف في خمسة شواهد: صبغة حمراء على وجه واحد من DAI1 وKHA23، وعلى وجهين من KAR3، وعلى ثلاثة أوجه من KHA6 وMUS11. ولا يُعرف أهذه بقايا نجت مصادفةً أم هي العيّنة الأصلية كلّها، وإن كان التوزيع العشوائي في ظاهره للأوجه الملوّنة يرجّح عاملَ الحفظ لا الاختيار المتعمّد.

The red colourant is haematite, iron oxide. Haematite occurs at Qalaʿat al-Bahrain as early as the Middle Dilmun/Kassite period around 1450 BC, used to coat floors and as a constituent of the slip on the so-called Kassite goblets, and again in the Tylos period to colour figurative grave stelae: a pre-Islamic link between funerary commemoration and iron oxide.

والصبغة الحمراء هي الهيماتيت، أي أكسيد الحديد. ويظهر الهيماتيت في قلعة البحرين منذ عصر دلمون الوسطى/الكاشّي نحو ١٤٥٠ق.م، مستعملاً في طلاء الأرضيات وفي تركيب الطلاء الخارجي لما يُعرف بأقداح الكاشّيين، ثمّ في عصر تايلوس لتلوين الشواهد الجنائزية التصويرية؛ وفي ذلك صلة سابقة للإسلام بين تخليد الموتى وأكسيد الحديد.

Haematite is also known from Islamic layers in Bahrain: a bead from levels of the mid-eleventh to twelfth centuries AD in the Al-Khamis Mosque precinct with six further fragments, and two haematite weights from twelfth to fifteenth-century Islamic layers in the Merchant Quarter at Qalaʿat al-Bahrain, though these are thought to be antique objects on the basis of their forms.

والهيماتيت معروف كذلك من الطبقات الإسلامية في البحرين: خرزة من طبقات منتصف القرن الحادي عشر إلى الثاني عشر الميلادي في حرم مسجد الخميس مع ستّ كِسَر أخرى، وصنجتان من الهيماتيت من طبقات إسلامية بين القرنين الثاني عشر والخامس عشر في «حيّ التجّار» بقلعة البحرين، وإن رُجّح أنّهما قطعتان قديمتان استناداً إلى شكلهما.

Five sets of cup marks were recorded. Four shallow circular depressions on the upper surface of MUS8 and three similar ones on KHA16 have no known purpose, and neither do the two large cup marks on the top and side of HOO4. The remaining two sets appear to be mancala boards, a game defined by sowing and capturing seeds along rows of holes.

ووُثِّقت خمس مجموعات من النُّقَر الكأسية. فأربع نُقَر دائرية ضحلة في السطح العلوي من MUS8، وثلاث مثلها في KHA16، لا يُعرف لها غرض، وكذلك النقرتان الكبيرتان في أعلى HOO4 وجانبه. أمّا المجموعتان الباقيتان فتبدوان رقعتَي «منقلة»، وهي لعبة قوامها بذر البذور وأسرها على صفوف من الحفر.

NOA3 carries four rows of fifteen neatly cut cup marks at one end of the upper surface. Those on ABN46 are less distinct and less evenly placed, but two rows of small cup marks and a third row of three larger and two smaller ones can be made out. ABN46 lay on its side with the board uppermost, apparently exactly as it had been left.

ويحمل NOA3 أربعة صفوف من خمس عشرة نقرة محفورة بإتقان عند أحد طرفَي السطح العلوي. أمّا نُقَر ABN46 فأقلّ وضوحاً وأقلّ انتظاماً، وإن تبيّن فيها صفّان من نُقَر صغيرة وصفّ ثالث فيه ثلاث كبيرة ونقرتان أصغر. وكان ABN46 مضطجعاً على جنبه ورقعته إلى أعلى، وكأنّه بقي على الحال التي تُرك عليها.

Mancala was played widely across Africa and Arabia. The double linear arrangement on ABN46 closely resembles rock-cut boards in northern Ghana, while both two-row and four-row arrangements recall games from eastern and southern Africa; four-row boards of this type are described as found mainly on the East African coast. Other rock-cut boards are known from Dhofar in Oman and from Palmyra in Syria.

وكانت المنقلة تُلعب على نطاق واسع في أفريقيا وجزيرة العرب. والترتيب الخطّي المزدوج في ABN46 يشبه شبهاً وثيقاً رقاعاً محفورة في الصخر بشمال غانا، بينما يذكّر الترتيبان ذوا الصفّين والأربعة صفوف بألعاب شرق أفريقيا وجنوبها؛ ويوصف نمط الأربعة صفوف بأنّه يوجد أساساً على الساحل الأفريقي الشرقي. وتُعرف رقاع صخرية أخرى من ظفار في عُمان ومن تدمر في سوريا.

١٠. أثريات الشواهد والمزارات10. The Archaeology of the Gravestones and Shrines

Two shrines and thirty-eight gravestones were excavated in the cemeteries. Gravestone ABN47 lay inside a small shrine in the Abu Anbra cemetery, a building of roughly 340 by 520 cm built of rough stone blocks with mud mortar and plastered internally, entered over a paved stone threshold in the east wall and fitted with a plain mihrab niche in the west wall.

نُقِّب في المقابر عن مزارين وثمانية وثلاثين شاهداً. فشاهد ABN47 كان داخل مزار صغير في مقبرة أبو عنبرة، وهو بناء يبلغ نحو ٣٤٠×٥٢٠ سم، مبنيّ بكتل حجرية خشنة بملاط طيني ومُلبَّس من الداخل، يُدخل إليه عبر عتبة حجرية مرصوفة في الجدار الشرقي، وفي جداره الغربي محراب بسيط.

Fig. 1.6 Plan of the shrine containing ABN47

The shrine was filled with loose sandy deposit containing no artefacts, with structural debris concentrated at the southern end. The roof had collapsed, leaving pieces of the roofing arches in place beside the gravestone where they fell. Once removed, they showed that shaped coral blocks had been used extensively in the dome, probably because they are comparatively light.

وكان المزار مملوءاً برديم رملي مفكّك خالٍ من اللقى، مع تركّز الأنقاض الإنشائية في طرفه الجنوبي. وقد انهار السقف فبقيت قطع من عقود التسقيف في مواضعها إلى جانب الشاهد حيث سقطت. ولمّا رُفعت تبيّن أنّ كتلاً مرجانية مشكّلة استُعملت استعمالاً واسعاً في القبّة، وربّما لخفّتها النسبية.

Fig. 1.7 The excavated shrine containing ABN47 with mihrab in the wall on the right

The name of the shrine's occupant survives only in part on the gravestone: a man styled al-Bahir who died in 1067/1656 and had performed the Hajj. The building thus dates the shrine tradition at Abu Anbra to the mid-seventeenth century AD at the latest.

ولا يبقى من اسم صاحب المزار على الشاهد إلا بعضه: رجل يُنعت بـ«الباهر» توفّي سنة ١٠٦٧/١٦٥٦ وكان حاجّاً. وبهذا يؤرّخ البناء تقليدَ المزارات في أبو عنبرة بمنتصف القرن السابع عشر الميلادي على أبعد تقدير.

Fig. 1.8 Parts of the collapsed dome structure, excavated shrine containing ABN47

Four gravestones, KHA4 to KHA7, came from a second shrine excavated in the cemetery east of the standing Al-Khamis Mosque, dug as rescue work ahead of the visitor centre. The structure had a roughly square room of about 400 by 390 cm internally, with a rectangular arcade attached measuring up to 1035 by 365 cm.

وجاءت أربعة شواهد، من KHA4 إلى KHA7، من مزار ثانٍ نُقِّب في المقبرة شرق مسجد الخميس القائم، وكان تنقيباً إنقاذياً سبق إنشاء مركز الزوّار. وللبناء غرفة شبه مربّعة أبعادها الداخلية نحو ٤٠٠×٣٩٠ سم، يتّصل بها رواق مستطيل يبلغ ١٠٣٥×٣٦٥ سم.

Fig. 1.9 Plan of the excavated shrine containing KHA7

As at Abu Anbra, collapsed arches lay preserved where they had fallen from the roof to the north and east of the shrine room. KHA7 stood inside the main room; the other three lay outside it, and KHA5 may belong to a further, smaller shrine room.

وكما في أبو عنبرة، بقيت العقود المنهارة محفوظة حيث سقطت من السقف شمال غرفة المزار وشرقها. وكان KHA7 داخل الغرفة الرئيسة؛ أمّا الثلاثة الأخرى فخارجها، ولعلّ KHA5 يعود إلى غرفة مزار أصغر إضافية.

Fig. 1.10 Collapsed arches, excavated shrine containing KHA7

KHA7 is dated 1105/1694, KHA5 to 997/1589 and KHA6 to 407/1017, while KHA4 is undated. KHA5 and KHA7 belong to the period of the shrine's construction, and KHA6 links to the earlier occupation recorded around the mosque. The inscription on KHA7 commemorates the late Shaikh Muhammad bin al-Mabrur Shaikh Majid and states that this is his shrine.

ويؤرَّخ KHA7 بسنة ١١٠٥/١٦٩٤، وKHA5 بسنة ٩٩٧/١٥٨٩، وKHA6 بسنة ٤٠٧/١٠١٧، بينما KHA4 غير مؤرَّخ. ويعود KHA5 وKHA7 إلى حقبة إنشاء المزار، ويتّصل KHA6 بالاستيطان الأقدم الموثّق حول المسجد. ويخلّد نقشُ KHA7 المرحومَ الشيخ محمّد بن المبرور الشيخ ماجد، وينصّ على أنّ هذا مزاره.

It is possible that this shrine connects with the later commemorative role of the Al-Khamis Mosque within a mashhad-type function, as has been proposed. Parallels for the excavated shrines are scarce, since this is an understudied class of monument, and those described elsewhere differ in form.

ويُحتمل أن يتّصل هذا المزار بالدور التخليدي المتأخّر لمسجد الخميس ضمن وظيفة من نوع «المشهد»، على ما اقتُرح. والنظائر المقارنة للمزارين المنقَّبين نادرة، إذ هذا صنف من الآثار قليل الدرس، وما وُصف منه في غير البحرين مختلف الشكل.

The al-Khidr shrine on Failaka Island in Kuwait, surveyed in 1976, was built on an oblong plan with an egg-shaped dome, then roofless: circular in its main part on rectangular foundations, raised on a low mound and reached by a flight of steps. It was dedicated to Khidr, protector of fishermen and of barren women, and was repeatedly pulled down by the authorities who objected to the rituals performed there.

أمّا مزار الخضر في جزيرة فيلكا بالكويت، الذي مُسح سنة ١٩٧٦، فبُني على مسقط مستطيل بقبّة بيضوية، وكان حينئذ بلا سقف: جزؤه الرئيس دائري على أساسات مستطيلة، مرفوع على تلّ واطئ يُصعد إليه بدرج. وكان مكرَّساً للخضر حامي الصيّادين والنساء العواقر، وقد هُدم مرّات على يد السلطات اعتراضاً على الطقوس التي كانت تُقام فيه.

The shrines surveyed on the former course of the Shatt al-Nil in Iraq also differ: comparable in size to the Bahraini examples, but earlier, of the eighth to twelfth centuries, and built of fired brick often finished with elaborate stucco work.

وتختلف كذلك المزارات الممسوحة على المجرى القديم لشطّ النيل في العراق: تقارب البحرينية في الحجم، غير أنّها أقدم، من القرن الثامن إلى الثاني عشر، ومبنيّة بالآجرّ المحروق مع تلبيسات جصّية متقنة في كثير منها.

Gravestones were excavated when their full form or position could not be seen (ten cases), when their inscriptions were obscured (twenty-two), or when local information indicated a buried stone invisible at the surface (six). All ten of the first group proved uninscribed; of the second group, excavation fully exposed the inscriptions of four whose above-ground faces were all eroded.

ونُقِّب عن الشواهد حين تعذّر رؤية شكلها الكامل أو موضعها (عشر حالات)، أو حين كانت نقوشها محجوبة (اثنتان وعشرون)، أو حين دلّت معلومات محلّية على شاهد مدفون لا يظهر على السطح (ستّ). وتبيّن أنّ العشرة الأولى كلّها بلا نقش؛ ومن المجموعة الثانية كشف التنقيب كشفاً تامّاً عن نقوش أربعة كانت أوجهها الظاهرة كلّها متآكلة.

Excavation added information in other ways too. ABN49 showed above ground only as the raised decoration at one end, but proved to be a completely buried, fully carved double-slab gravestone that had been dislodged, its decoration pushed up by a white plastic water pipe laid directly across it.

وأضاف التنقيب معلومات من وجوه أخرى. فشاهد ABN49 لم يكن يظهر فوق الأرض إلا بزخرفته البارزة عند أحد طرفيه، ثمّ تبيّن أنّه شاهد مزدوج اللوح تامّ النقش مدفون بكامله، أزيح عن موضعه ودُفعت زخرفته إلى أعلى بأنبوب ماء بلاستيكي أبيض مُدّ فوقه مباشرة.

Fig. 1.11 ABN49 after excavation with plastic water pipe in-situ

That some stones lay in sub-surface archaeological contexts, ABN47 and HOO5 among them, suggests they may be subject to what has been described for Nubian Islamic cemeteries as a life cycle: monuments abandoned and forgotten as the lineages or figures they commemorated slipped out of collective memory.

ووجودُ بعض الشواهد في سياقات أثرية تحت السطح، ومنها ABN47 وHOO5، يرجّح خضوعها لما وُصف في المقابر الإسلامية النوبية بـ«دورة الحياة»: آثارٌ تُهجر وتُنسى كلّما غابت عن الذاكرة الجمعية الأنسابُ أو الشخصيات التي خلّدتها.

فهرس النقوش الجنائزيةCatalogue of the Funerary Inscriptions

Gravestones are grouped by the cemetery, mosque, shrine or museum in which they were recorded, in the order used in the book. Each entry carries its reference code, co-ordinates, dimensions, orientation, the field description, the translated inscriptions face by face, and every published photograph of that stone. The letter chips beside each code show which faces carry inscriptions, following the book's A to E lettering system.

الشواهد مرتّبة بحسب المقبرة أو المسجد أو المزار أو المتحف الذي وُثّقت فيه، على الترتيب المتّبع في الكتاب. ويحمل كلّ مدخل رمزه المرجعي وإحداثياته ومقاساته وتوجيهه ووصفه الميداني ونصوصَ نقوشه المترجمة وجهاً وجهاً، وكلَّ صورة منشورة لذلك الشاهد. وتبيّن حروف الأوجه إلى جانب الرمز أيَّ الأوجه يحمل نقشاً، على نظام الحروف A إلى E المعتمد في الكتاب.

AALAʿali – Salamya Mosque1 شاهد

AAL1

ADE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.16459° N 050.52542° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1. 60 cm length (l) × 24 cm width (w) × 40.5 cm height (h) Slab 2. 94 cm (l) × 28 cm (w) × 47 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	Not applicable (NA)

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs. The inscriptions found on four surfaces are very eroded. Partial remains of a shallow carved pointed niche design on the top surface (E) with additional tracery framing above. The end is broken on one slab and it has some concrete adhering to the top. Eroded unidentifiable raised decoration at the other end. The original orientation is unknown.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين. النقوش الموجودة على أربعة أوجه شديدة التآكل. بقايا جزئية من محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E) مع إطار زخرفي إضافي فوقه. طرف أحد اللوحين مكسور، وفي أعلاه بقايا إسمنت ملتصق. زخرفة بارزة متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند الطرف الآخر. التوجيه الأصلي مجهول.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful… (35:33)
Eden Paradise, which they shall enter… (13:23)
No carving or inscriptions.
The inscription cannot be read.

الوجه D

al-Husayni…

الوجه E (العلوي)

The inscription cannot be read.

ABNAbu Anbra Cemetery50 شاهد

ABN1

ABCD

1103/1692

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1103/1692
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20939° N 050.55050° E
المقاساتDimensions	115 cm (l) × 35.5 cm (w) × 42 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	Northwest (NW) to Southeast (SE)

Single limestone slab gravestone in good condition with inscriptions on five surfaces. The raised decoration has been cut off both ends. Shallow rounded pointed niche design on the top surface (E).

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد في حالة جيّدة، بنقوش على خمسة أوجه. الزخرفة البارزة مقطوعة عند الطرفين. محراب مستدير مدبّب ضحل على السطح العلوي (E).

الوجه A

The angels will descend on them, (saying:) Fear not, nor grieve; But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised. We are your friends in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your souls desire, and all that you ask for, as hospi
From One, the Forgiving, the Most Merciful. Gardens of Eden whose gates will be opened for them. Therein they will recline, therein they will call for fruits in abundance and drinks. And beside them will be maidens of equal age with modest gaze. This is what you are promised on the Day of Reckoning (38:50–53). Praise be to Allah and to no one else.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, there is no other deity but he, the and protects all that exists. Neither Ever Living, the One Who sustains slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with. Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter.
And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and preserving them. And He is the Most the High, the Great has spoken the truth. His Generous Prophet has spoken the truth. Ali, prince of believers, has spoken the truth. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.

الوجه C

Reading part of the Book of God the Noble One … Proceeds from …
Six Muhammadi Qirans should be spent on, Sayyid Abdullah Bin Sayyid Naser on Barburah which is located in al-Sahramuw..

الوجه D

This is the grave of the late and blessed Shaikh Salim bin Shaikh ʿAbd al-Wahhab, who died on fifteenth of
Written by Husayn bin ʿAli bin Zayn al-Din, May Allah forgive them, in Safar 1103. that a knowledgeable, perfect and experienced shaikh was buried in you.
My Allah bless his soul and give him paradise and silk as a generous gift from Him.
Engraved by the humble al- Sayyid Naser bin al-Sayyid Hashim al-Husayni.

ABN2

BCDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20974° N 050.55106° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 80 cm (l) × 24 cm (w) × 35 cm (h) Slab 2: 22 cm (l) × 24 cm (w) × 35 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone broken into two parts. Hollow interior. Badly eroded. Unidentifiable three element raised decoration at both ends. Partially legible inscriptions on two surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مكسور إلى قطعتين. داخله مجوَّف. متآكل تآكلاً شديداً. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر غير مُعرَّفة عند الطرفين. نقوش مقروءة جزئياً على وجهين.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none… (2:255)
… Who is he that can intercede.

الوجه C

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

ABN3

BCDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20979° N 050.55109° E
المقاساتDimensions	140 cm (l) × 34 cm (w) × 37 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone with some patches of erosion and damage. Next to collapsed shrine on top of mound. Raised decoration cut off at both ends. Inscriptions on four surfaces. Shallow carved pointed niche design on top surface (E).

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد به رقع من التآكل والتلف. إلى جانب مزار منهار على قمّة تلّ. الزخرفة البارزة مقطوعة عند الطرفين. نقوش على أربعة أوجه. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E).

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped sustains and protects all that exists. but he, the Ever Living, the One Who Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows … And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in
Guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Allah, then has grasped the most trustworthy handhold All-Hearer All-Knower. Allah is the that will never break. And Allah is Guardian of those who believe. He brings them out from darkness into light (2:255–257).

الوجه C

A part of the Book of God the Noble One should be read every day for 15 mann of palm dates.
From the products of al-Shatba Palm trees ……in Alnaboud …. Located at Sayhat al-Bahrain.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by…the distinguished … al- Sayyid Naser.
gardens … until buried in the soil …
… He cried for killing of Wahab …. Allah … The death.
Written by …

ABN4

BCDE

1113/1702

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1113/1702
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20484° N 050.55125° E
المقاساتDimensions	123 cm (l) × 34 cm (w) × 34–37 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	North (N) to South (S)

Single limestone slab gravestone in generally good condition but with some damage at the ends on the top surface. Raised decoration cut off at both ends. Next to collapsed shrine, below mound. Shallow carved rectangular rounded niche decoration on top surface. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد في حالة جيّدة عموماً، مع تلف يسير عند طرفَي السطح العلوي. الزخرفة البارزة مقطوعة عند الطرفين. إلى جانب مزار منهار أسفل التلّ. زخرفة محرابية مستديرة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة على السطح العلوي. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede. with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter.
And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Allah, then has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer All- Knower (2:255–256).

الوجه C

(Reading) … task … Day … From the) ( Book of God.
One Muhammadiyyah for every month from the proceed of the palm trees called … at Mina …

الوجه D

This is the grave of the chaste Madinah bint Shaikh al-Awah Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al-Mahuzi.
Her mother is a daughter of al-Sayyid Jaʿfar, died in 11th of Rabiʿ al-Awwal in 1113.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Written by the one who stands in need of Allah, ʿAli Bin Abdullah Bin ʿAbd al-Samad al-Asbaʿi al-Bahrani.
Graves, we thought these were illuminated stars …
Inscribed by the humble al-Sayyid Naser bin al-Sayyid Hashim al- Asbaʿi al-Bahrani.

ABN5

ACDE

707/1307

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	707/1307
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20995° N 050.55146° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 74.5 cm (l) × 38.5–40 cm (w) × 34 cm (h) Slab 2: 79–80.5 cm (l) × 38.5 cm (w) × 34 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Gravestone formed of two solid limestone slabs. In generally good condition. Three element raised decoration at both ends formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch at one end and two facetted cubes and a central cylinder at the other end. The end surfaces (C and D) are unengraved and the outer surface of the raised decoration on both these sides is incomplete suggesting the gravestone is not fully finished. Shallow carved pointed niche design on the top surface (E). Inscriptions on three surfaces.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مصمتين. في حالة جيّدة عموماً. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند الطرفين: مكعّبان مضلّعان وقوس مستدير أوسط عند طرف، ومكعّبان مضلّعان وأسطوانة وسطى عند الطرف الآخر. الوجهان الطرفيان (C وD) غير منقوشين، والسطح الخارجي للزخرفة البارزة في هذين الجانبين غير مكتمل، ممّا يرجّح أنّ الشاهد لم يُتمّ. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). نقوش على ثلاثة أوجه.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Verily, those who say: Our Lord is Allah, and then they stand firm, the angels will descend on them, (saying:) Fear not, nor grieve; But receive the glad tidings of Paradise
Which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your souls desire and all that you ask for, as hospitality from One, the Forgiving, the Most Merciful (41:30–32).
Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope (32:16). God rest his soul. And give glad tidings to the good doers (22:37). No doubt! Verily, those who believe in Allah they have no fear nor do they grieve.
These are rewarded with high places because they are patient, and are met therein with greetings and the word of peace and respect. Abiding thereinexcellent it is as an abode, and as a. place to rest in (10:62). it will be said to them; peace be on you, a Word from the Most Merciful (36:58). (It will be said to them): Enter therein (Paradise), in peace and security (15.46).

الوجه C

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

I am astonished that a man that was like a sea of dew is now placed in two feet of a grave, 707.
O ʿAli’s grave be proud … God rest his soul.

ABN6

ABC

1046/1636

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1046/1636
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21051° N 050.55123° E
المقاساتDimensions	107 cm (l) × 28 cm (w) × 42–44 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone, eroded. Next to collapsed mosque. Three element raised decoration formed of three facetted cubes, the central one thinner, all set on a rectangular plinth at both ends. Inscriptions on five surfaces, two only partially illegible.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد، متآكل. إلى جانب مسجد منهار. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من ثلاثة مكعّبات مضلّعة أوسطها أرقّ، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند الطرفين. نقوش على خمسة أوجه، اثنان منها غير مقروءين إلا جزئياً.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Verily, those who say: Our Lord is Allah, and then they stand firm, The Angels will descend on them, (saying:) Fear not,.
Nor grieve; But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised … (41:30) the Forgiving, the. Most Merciful (41:32).

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Their Lord gives them glad tidings of Mercy from Him, and His being pleased and of Gardens for them wherein are ev-. erlasting delights. They will dwell therein forever.
Indeed, Allah has with Him a great reward (9:21–22). Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope (32:16). Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good (7:56).

الوجه C

The proceed of … 6 Qirans … al-rams
Year of one thousand and forty-six
Whatsoever is on the earth will perish. And the Face of your Lord full of Majesty and Honour will remain forever (55:26–27).
Everything will perish except His Face. His is the Decision, and to Him all shall be returned. He is a Lord who. forgives and he is merciful (28:88).

ABN7

ACDE

904/1498

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	904/1498
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21059° N 050.55116° E
المقاساتDimensions	68 cm (l) × 27 cm (w) × 37 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Short limestone slab, half of a two-slab gravestone. Badly eroded. Traces of shallow carved rectangular panel design on upper surface (E). Possible remains of very eroded unidentifiable raised decoration at one end. Partial inscriptions on two surfaces.

لوح جيري قصير، نصف شاهد ذي لوحين. متآكل تآكلاً شديداً. آثار تصميم لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة على السطح العلوي (E). بقايا محتملة لزخرفة بارزة شديدة التآكل غير مُعرَّفة عند أحد الطرفين. نقوش جزئية على وجهين.

الوجه A

No carving or inscriptions.
Your sins of the past and the future and … (48:2)
N … behind them … all …

الوجه C

… Nine hundred and four of the migration …

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

ABN8

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21054° N 050.55117° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 71 cm (l) × 33 cm (w) × 33 cm (h) Slab 2: 77 cm (l) × 32 cm (w) × 33 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	North north west (NNW) to South south east (SSE)

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs. No inscriptions

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين. لا نقوش.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN9

765/1363

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	765/1363
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21059° N 050.55117° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 103 cm (l) × 50 cm (w) × 48 cm (h) Slab 2: 97 cm (l) × 51 cm (w) × 48 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs. Badly eroded in places. Traces of shallow carved rectangular panel and two circles on upper surface (E) of one of the two slabs. Raised decoration broken or cut off at both ends. Partial inscriptions on four surfaces. Near a collapsed mosque that was excavated and contained ABN47.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين. متآكل تآكلاً شديداً في مواضع منه. آثار لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة ودائرتين على السطح العلوي (E) لأحد اللوحين. الزخرفة البارزة مكسورة أو مقطوعة عند الطرفين. نقوش جزئية على أربعة أوجه. قريب من مسجد منهار نُقِّب عنه وكان يضمّ ABN47.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Their Lord gives them glad tidings of Mercy from Him, and His pleasure and of
Gardens of Eternity. They shall enter Gardens for them (9:21). them and also those who are righteous from among their fathers, and their wives and their children. And angels shall enter unto them from every gate (13:23).
The greatest terror will not grieve them, and
The angels will meet them with greeting: this is your Day which you were promised (21:103).
Grave of the blessed …
Seven hundred and sixty-five …

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

ABN10

ABCDE

746/1345

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	746/1345
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21059° N 050.55119° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 105 cm (l) × 42–43 cm (w) × 30 cm (h) Slab 2: 76 cm (l) × 42 cm (w) × 34 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Gravestone formed of two hollow limestone slabs. The smaller stone is more eroded. Inscriptions on three surfaces. Raised decoration on the larger stone has either been eroded or broken off. Rounded top part of shallow carved rounded niche decoration with two circles above niche on the upper surface (E). Found next to a collapsed mosque that was excavated and contained ABN47.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مجوَّفين. الحجر الأصغر أشدّ تآكلاً. نقوش على ثلاثة أوجه. الزخرفة البارزة في الحجر الأكبر إمّا تآكلت وإمّا انكسرت. الجزء العلوي المستدير من زخرفة محرابية مستديرة غائرة ضحلة، وفوق المحراب دائرتان على السطح العلوي (E). وُجد إلى جانب مسجد منهار نُقِّب عنه وكان يضمّ ABN47.

الوجه A

To dwell therein forever … God … (9:21)
Of Paradise which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world …
And therein you shall have all that you ask for, an entertainment from the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (41:30–32).

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Verily, those for whom the good has preceded from Us, they will be removed far
The greatest terror will not grieve them, and the angels will meet them with greeting: this is your Day which … (21:101–103)

الوجه C

Very deteriorated, Unable to read.

الوجه D

… Saʿid Bin Maʿali, God enlighten his.
Twenty first of Muharram, the shrine, died first month of seven hundred and forty-six.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions..

ABN11

707/1307

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	707/1307
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21056° N 050.55127° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 109 cm (l) × 50 cm (w) × 41 cm (h) Slab 2: 82 cm (l) × 49.5 cm (w) × 39–40 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs buried next to a collapsed mosque that was excavated and contained ABN47. Very well carved. Inscriptions on five surfaces, two partly illegible. Mostly in very good condition. Unusually detailed carving on top surface (E) formed of a shallow carved pointed niche design, with two larger circles above and two below, and two smaller circles, seemingly a later addition, within the niche. Three element raised decoration formed of two short collared rounded cylinders with a central rounded arch at one end and a rounded arch at the other end. Flanking the latter are two irregular indentations suggesting there were formerly two other decorative elements that have been removed. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مدفون إلى جانب مسجد منهار نُقِّب عنه وكان يضمّ ABN47. جيّد النحت جدّاً. نقوش على خمسة أوجه، اثنان منها غير مقروءين جزئياً. في حالة جيّدة جدّاً في معظمه. نحت مفصَّل على غير المعتاد في السطح العلوي (E): محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل، فوقه دائرتان كبيرتان وتحته دائرتان، ودائرتان أصغر داخل المحراب تبدوان إضافةً لاحقة. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من أسطوانتين مستديرتين قصيرتين مطوّقتين وقوس مستدير أوسط عند طرف، وقوس مستدير عند الطرف الآخر. ويكتنف الأخير تجويفان غير منتظمين، ممّا يرجّح وجود عنصرين زخرفيين آخرين أُزيلا. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه B

Eden Paradise, which they shall enter great reward (9:21–22). and those who acted righteously from and their offspring. And angels shall enter unto them every gate. Peace is upon you for you persevered in patience! Excellent indeed is the final home (13:23–24).
Whatsoever is on the earth will perish … (55:26)
… part … day … From … The Great …

الوجه D

The blessed late, God enlighten his shrine.
He lived twenty-four years.
This is the shrine of the honoured and blessed late.
The pride of life and the Day of Reckoning ʿAli the son of the great leader. The pride
Of life and Day of Reckoning Muhammad bin Ahmad Bin Saʿid bin Maʿali.
Died in thirteenth of Jumada alakhar, seven hundred and seven.

ABN12

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21063° N 050.55135° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 62 cm (l) × 31 cm (w) × 36 cm (h) Slab 2: 67 cm (l) × 31 cm (w) × 33 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs. Badly eroded. No inscriptions. Near excavated collapsed mosque containing ABN47. The two blocks were separated and uniquely, indicated the use of a mortise and tenon type joint to join the two slabs of the gravestone

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين. متآكل تآكلاً شديداً. لا نقوش. قريب من المسجد المنهار المنقَّب الذي يضمّ ABN47. انفصلت الكتلتان فتبيّن، على نحو فريد، استعمالُ وصلة نقر ولسان لربط لوحَي الشاهد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN13

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21011° N 050.55087° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 56 cm (l) × 28 cm (w) × 31 cm (h) Slab 2: 87 cm (l) × 28–29 cm (w) × 30 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	West north west (WNW) to East south east (ESE)

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs. Gap between the two slabs indicates that they are solid

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين. الفجوة بين اللوحين تدلّ على أنّهما مصمتان.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN14

ACD

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21013° N 050.55082° E
المقاساتDimensions	81 cm (l) × 26–27 cm (w) × 30 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Half of a double slab gravestone. Badly eroded and appears to have been drilled down one side surface (A). Eroded unidentifiable raised decoration at one end. Partially legible inscriptions on three surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. نصف شاهد مزدوج اللوح. متآكل تآكلاً شديداً، ويبدو أنّه ثُقب على امتداد أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A). زخرفة بارزة متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند أحد الطرفين. نقوش مقروءة جزئياً على ثلاثة أوجه.

الوجه A

The forgiven, the greatest and the blessed late …
… Paradise fair females ʿAli bin Mansur Bin Kamal al-Din … Safar … Year four.
… praise be to Allah

الوجه C

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.
… the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that …
… His seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue … (2:255)

ABN15

ABCDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21071° N 050.55110° E
المقاساتDimensions	132 cm (l) × 28.5 cm (w) × 32 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone (next to ABN16). Well carved and in good condition. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at each end. Shallow carved pointed niche design on the upper surface (E). Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد (بجوار ABN16). جيّد النحت وفي حالة حسنة. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند كلّ طرف. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede
Except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never comcept that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. He is the Most High and the Most Great (2:255). Thanks be to Allah …

الوجه B

The angels will descend on them, (saying:) Fear not, nor grieve; But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and in the Hereafter (41:30–31).
… gives them glad tidings … and His being pleased and of Gardens for them wherein are everlasting de-. lights (9:21).

الوجه C

It is the place of the Noble Man.
The blessed, Hasan bin al-Sayyid Abdullah bin Hasan.

الوجه D

Died in sixteen
Of the Rabiʿ al-thani

الوجه E (العلوي)

Reading on his grave every day..
… its … part … in …
You lived in the soil with glad people while you were one of the best youth.
And you have been included with the winners of paradise fair females and young servants..

ABN16

ABCD

1047/1637

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1047/1637
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21072° N 050.55110° E
المقاساتDimensions	152 cm (l) × 41 cm (w) × 41 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone (next to ABN15). Well carved and in good condition. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at each end. Shallow carved pointed niche design on the upper surface (E) with triple lines used to delineate the outline. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد (بجوار ABN15). جيّد النحت وفي حالة حسنة. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند كلّ طرف. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E) حُدّد إطاره بثلاثة خطوط. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه A

with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the. earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255).

الوجه B

The angels will descend on them, (saying:) Fear not, nor grieve; But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have
all that your souls desire and all that you ask for, as hospitality from One, the Forgiving, the Most Merciful (41:30– 32). Gardens of Eden whose gates will be opened for them. Therein they will recline, therein they will call for fruits them will be maidens of equal age with modest gaze (38:50–52).

الوجه C

This is the grave of the noble Hajj Haji
bin Muhammad bin Husayn bin Naser al-Khutay, May Allah have mercy on him

الوجه D

Died in nineteenth of
Rabiʿ al-thani, One thousand and forty-seven
Written by Saʿud and engraved by al-. Sayyid Hashim.
Their Lord gives the glad tidings of Mercy from Him, and His being pleased, and of Paradise for them wherein are everlasting delights (9:21–22).
They will dwell therein forever. Verily, with Allah is a great reward. Allah and his messenger have spoken the. truth.

ABN17

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21074° N 050.55112° E
المقاساتDimensions	146 cm (l) × 35.5–37 cm (w) × 46 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone (next to ABN18). No inscriptions. Cut to size and left unfinished

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد (بجوار ABN18). لا نقوش. قُطع على المقاس وتُرك غير مكتمل.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN18

BCDE

1094/1683

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1094/1683
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21077° N 050.55112° E
المقاساتDimensions	130 cm (l) × 33 cm (w) × 38.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Some erosion on top. Inscriptions on five surfaces. Three element raised decoration at each end formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth. Shallow carved pointed niche design on the upper surface (E).

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. شيء من التآكل في الأعلى. نقوش على خمسة أوجه. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند كلّ طرف من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E).

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth.
Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255).

الوجه C

Reading a section on the grave of the Chaste, Maryam the daughter of the Blessed al-Sayyid Majid..
… At Sufala Garden in Sitra and half of Almutiaa at Katkan village.
… share … seven … al-Khawariyah … located …

الوجه D

… seventh of Dhu al-Hijjah, year of …
One thousand and ninety four

الوجه E (العلوي)

One thousand and … ten … shrine … Al-Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ra⁠ʾuf …
In the grave, Najiba (Najma) has dis-) appeared … the glory.
She went into paradise proudly, …. *** And in … forgiveness and happiness.

ABN19

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21078° N 050.55109° E
المقاساتDimensions	58 cm (l) × 26 cm (w) × 34 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single solid limestone slab gravestone. Half of a double slab gravestone. Heavily eroded. Part of a shallow carved rectangular design on top surface (E), probably the bottom of a niche design. Three element raised decoration at one end formed of three flattened facetted cubes. Traces of illegible inscription on one surface (B)

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مصمت. نصف شاهد مزدوج اللوح. متآكل تآكلاً بالغاً. جزء من تصميم مستطيل غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E)، لعلّه أسفل تصميم محرابي. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند أحد الطرفين من ثلاثة مكعّبات مضلّعة مسطّحة. آثار نقش غير مقروء على وجه واحد (B).

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN20

ACDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21081° N 050.55109° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 68 cm (l) × 26.5–28 cm (w) × 38.5 cm (h) Slab 2: 80 cm (l) × 23 cm (w) × 33 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs. Very eroded in places. Part of a shallow carved rectangular design on top surface (E), probably the bottom of a niche design. Three element raised decoration at one end formed of three flattened facetted cubes. The central one has a carved circle on top. Partly legible inscriptions on two surfaces.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين. شديد التآكل في مواضع منه. جزء من تصميم مستطيل غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E)، لعلّه أسفل تصميم محرابي. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند أحد الطرفين من ثلاثة مكعّبات مضلّعة مسطّحة. وفي الأوسط دائرة منحوتة في أعلاه. نقوش مقروءة جزئياً على وجهين.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most. Gracious, the Most Merciful

الوجه C

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

ABN21

BCDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21078° N 050.55111° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 102 cm (l) × 49.5 cm (w) × 29 cm (h) Slab 2: 101 cm (l) × 51 cm (w) × 31 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs. Part of a shallow carved rectangular design on top surface (E) of one slab, probably the bottom of a niche design. Eroded and unidentifiable raised decoration at both ends. Very eroded in places. Illegible inscription on one surface and partially legible inscription on another face.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين. جزء من تصميم مستطيل غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E) لأحد اللوحين، لعلّه أسفل تصميم محرابي. زخرفة بارزة متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند الطرفين. شديد التآكل في مواضع منه. نقش غير مقروء على وجه، ونقش مقروء جزئياً على وجه آخر.

الوجه B

… under which rivers flow and will assign you palaces (25:10).

الوجه C

No legible carving or inscriptions.

الوجه D

No legible carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

ABN22

ABC

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21087° N 050.55112° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 66 cm (l) × 32.5 cm (w) × 31 cm (h) Slab 2: 71 cm (l) × 32.5 cm (w) × 32 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs in generally good condition. Shallow carved pointed niche design on the top surface (E). Three element raised decoration at both ends formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch. Inscriptions on five surfaces, three partly illegible.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين في حالة جيّدة عموماً. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند الطرفين من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط. نقوش على خمسة أوجه، ثلاثة منها غير مقروءة جزئياً.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the hereafter and they will never. compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth
and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower (2:255–256).

الوجه B

… a great reward … The angels will descend on them, (saying:) ‘Fear not, nor grieve; But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised (41:30).
… therein for you will be fruits in plenty … shall be met … (peace) (43:73).

الوجه C

I gave you … rainwater ….
All kind of happiness …
… from al-Mustafa …
… al-Sayyid Hashim, forgive …
If the ladies of this world followed her way … Allah … ***

ABN23

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21086° N 050.55117° E
المقاساتDimensions	179 cm (l) × 34 cm (w) × 47 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single solid limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مصمت.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN24

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21087° N 050.55117° E
المقاساتDimensions	72.5 cm (l) × 31.5 cm (w) × 26 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single solid limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مصمت.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN25

ADE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21095° N 050.55111° E
المقاساتDimensions	68 cm (l) × 21.5 cm (w) × 31.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	West south west (WSW) to East north east (ENE)

Single solid limestone slab gravestone. Misaligned. One surface and top badly eroded. Eroded and unidentifiable raised decoration at one end. Partly legible inscription on one surface. Rest eroded.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مصمت. غير مستوٍ في المحاذاة. أحد الأوجه والسطح العلوي متآكلان تآكلاً شديداً. زخرفة بارزة متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند أحد الطرفين. نقش مقروء جزئياً على وجه واحد. وبقيّته متآكلة.

الوجه A

… whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him.
His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255).
No carving or inscriptions.
No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

ABN26

BCDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21095° N 050.55112° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 82 cm (l) × 34.5 cm (w) × 40 cm (h) Slab 2: 73 cm (l) × 35 cm (w) × 42 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs in generally good condition. No niche design on surface E. Three element raised decoration at both ends formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch. The raised decoration has not been finished on the reverse of the end surfaces (C and D). One side surface (B) is broken, exposing the interior and indicating that both slabs are hollow. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين في حالة جيّدة عموماً. لا محراب على الوجه E. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند الطرفين من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط. الزخرفة البارزة لم تُتمّ في ظهر الوجهين الطرفيين (C وD). أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (B) مكسور، فانكشف الداخل ودلّ على أنّ اللوحين مجوَّفان. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, there is no deity but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission!
He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter … the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And.. He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255). Eden Gardens, whose doors will be opened (38:50).

الوجه C

Do you know what this grave includes … It shelters a pearl …
Her history is a place of mercy … her *** place is in everlasting paradise.

الوجه D

This is the grave of the chaste, knowledgeable and freewoman who always was a pilgrim at the holy house of God.
And visited the graves of the Prophet and his family. Fatimah bint al-Sayyid ʿAli bin al-Sayyid Husayn bin al- Sayyid ʿIsa al-Husayni.

الوجه E (العلوي)

… the grave is a place … Allah..
… invites … pearls … treasure …

ABN27

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21095° N 050.55118° E
المقاساتDimensions	139 cm (l) × 30–32 cm (w) × 43.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. No niche design on surface E. Rudimentary three element raised decoration at both ends formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch. Deeply carved with large lettering. Next to shrine of Shaikh Husayn bin ʿAbd al-Samad. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. لا محراب على الوجه E. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر بدائية عند الطرفين من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط. منحوت نحتاً غائراً بحروف كبيرة. إلى جانب مزار الشيخ حسين بن عبد الصمد. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه A

To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows
What happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue
In guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path.. Whoever disbelieves in al-Taghut (2:255–256).
Into light. But as for those who disbelieve.
their supporters are al-Taghut. they bring them out (2:257).
Allah is the Protector of those who believe.
He brings them out from darkness (2:257).

الوجه E (العلوي)

Oh grave, you contain a high mountain, be proud that you embedded a great person such as Ahmad.
He is one person but equal to all the people and nobody is similar to him.

ABN28

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21095° N 050.55118° E
المقاساتDimensions	55 cm (l) × 17–19 cm (w) × 29 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	N-S

Small single limestone slab gravestone in very eroded condition

شاهد قبر صغير من لوح جيري واحد في حالة شديدة التآكل.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN29

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21097° N 050.55114° E
المقاساتDimensions	147 cm (l) × 32–33 cm (w) × 41 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	N-S

Single limestone slab gravestone. No niche design on surface E. Three element raised decoration at both ends formed of two facetted cubes with a central thin raised point. Significant erosion on one end surface (C). Inscriptions on four surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. لا محراب على الوجه E. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند الطرفين من مكعّبين مضلّعين بينهما رأس بارز رفيع. تآكل كبير في أحد الوجهين الطرفيين (C). نقوش على أربعة أوجه.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes
… Who is he that with Him except Him. To Him belongs whatever is in by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world
And what will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path.. Whoever disbelieves in al-Taghut (2:255–256).
No carving or inscriptions.
Allah is the Protector of those who believe.
He brings them out from darkness (2:257).

الوجه E (العلوي)

Oh grave, you should boast to the other graves, because you embedded a person who is a haven for. everybody.
He is the most honourable person socially and in reputation, he is Jaʿfar bin ʿAbd al-Ra⁠ʾuf.

ABN30

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21099° N 050.55114° E
المقاساتDimensions	144.5 cm (l) × 30.5–31 cm (w) × 33 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. No niche design on surface E. Three element raised decoration at both ends formed of two facetted cubes with a central rounded arch that is wider and flatter at one end. Slight erosion. Deeply carved with large lettering used. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. لا محراب على الوجه E. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند الطرفين من مكعّبين مضلّعين بينهما قوس مستدير أعرض وأبسط عند أحد الطرفين. تآكل يسير. منحوت نحتاً غائراً بحروف كبيرة. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes
the heavens and whatever is on the Him. To Him belongs whatever is in earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission!. He knows What happens to them in this world (2:255).
Allah is the Protector of those who believe (2:257).
from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves
in al-Taghut (2:257)..

الوجه E (العلوي)

Oh grave, you should boast proudly to other places and get the highest honour
Because you embedded a chaste woman, and because of her you are a glorious and honoured place.

ABN31

ABCDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21099° N 050.55116° E
المقاساتDimensions	142 cm (l) × 21.5 cm (w) × 37 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone in good condition. No niche design on surface E. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at both ends. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد في حالة جيّدة. لا محراب على الوجه E. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند الطرفين. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه A

And they will never compass anyin the Hereafter. thing of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255). Allah, The Most Great, and His prophet have spoken the truth.

الوجه B

The angels will descend on them, (saying:) Fear not, nor grieve; But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your souls desire
And all that you ask for, as hospitality from One, the Forgiving, the Most Merciful (41:30–32). Gardens of Eden whose gates will be opened for them. Therein they will recline, therein they will call for fruits in abundance and drinks. And beside them will est gaze (38:50–52). Allah, the Most Great, has spoken the truth.:

الوجه C

(Two thirds) and six should be read to. () her.
One third on the (palm tree)

الوجه D

And half of an eighth which
On the people of al-Ukul island.

الوجه E (العلوي)

The chaste, Amirah bint al-Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ra⁠ʾuf died.
Oh grave of ʿAbd al-Ra⁠ʾuf’s daughter *** be prouder than others
Because you embedded Hawra⁠ʾ … in your soil which without her the earth would shake.
Fourteenth of Rabiʿ al-awwal, year of 10 …

ABN32

BCD

1090/1679

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1090/1679
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21098° N 050.55119° E
المقاساتDimensions	150 cm (l) × 33 cm (w) × 41 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone in generally good condition. Wellcarved. Some erosion on one side surface (A) and one end surface (D). Shallow carved pointed niche design on top surface (E). Raised decoration cut off at one end and three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at the other end. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد في حالة جيّدة عموماً. جيّد النحت. شيء من التآكل في أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A) وفي أحد الوجهين الطرفيين (D). محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). الزخرفة البارزة مقطوعة عند طرف، وعند الطرف الآخر زخرفة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط على قاعدة مستطيلة. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه B

Compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in al-Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer,. All-Knower (2:255–256).

الوجه C

Big baskets, the weight of each one twenty mann from the income. Tributes to develop it from the income of the Abu Naser palm trees which is located in Sitra. The death of the Late Husaynia Bint Jafar in fifteenth of Rabiʿ al-thani, year of one thousand and ninety.

الوجه D

Reading … on the grave …
And on … bin Husayn … And should be presented
… the believers …
Written by Husayn bin ʿAli bin Zayn al-Din al-Bahrani …
… The Great … al-Sayyid Naser bin al-.. Sayyid Hashim al-Husayni, God bless them.
Oh grave, you embedded a chaste and pure woman.
We know that her body is hidden in a grave, but in reality, her place is in paradise.

ABN33

ABDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21111° N 050.55111° E
المقاساتDimensions	Not measured
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab gravestone broken into nine fragments. These conjoin to form one hollow incomplete gravestone with inscriptions on two surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مكسور إلى تسع كِسَر. تلتئم هذه الكِسَر في شاهد واحد مجوَّف غير كامل، بنقوش على وجهين.

الوجه A

And they will never compass anyand whatever is on the earth … thing of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High (2:255).

الوجه B

… Verily, with Allah is a great reward. (9:22).
… But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your souls desire and all that you ask for, as hospitality from One, the Forgiving, the Most Merciful (41:30–32).
No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

ABN34

984/1576

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	984/1576
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21086° N 050.55117° E
المقاساتDimensions	Not measured
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Modern white marble gravestone with laser cut black painted lettering. It is included as the individual commemorated by the gravestone died before 1900 CE, and because around his shrine many of the original carved limestone gravestones are clustered.

شاهد رخامي أبيض حديث بحروف محفورة بالليزر ومطلية بالأسود. أُدرج لأنّ صاحب الشاهد توفّي قبل سنة ١٩٠٠م، ولأنّ حول مزاره تتجمّع كثير من الشواهد الجيرية المنحوتة الأصلية.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN35

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21089° N 050.55139° E
المقاساتDimensions	144 cm (l) × 33 cm (w) × 28 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	N-S

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN36

ABC

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21091° N 050.55143° E
المقاساتDimensions	154 cm (l) × 37.5 cm (w) × 44 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone in good condition. Shallow carved pointed niche design on top surface (E). Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at both ends. Inscriptions on five surfaces. Partially excavated to expose whole gravestone.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد في حالة جيّدة. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند الطرفين. نقوش على خمسة أوجه. نُقِّب عنه جزئياً لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه A

… will be opened … for fruits in abundance and drinks. And beside them will be maidens of equal age with modest gaze (38:50–52). Allah, the Most Great has spoken the truth.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Him. To Him belongs whatever is in. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission!
To them in this world, and will hap- He knows what happens. pen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. Allah and His Prophet have spoken the truth … (2:255).

الوجه C

… should be read … for his soul … And a part on his wife’s grave, the daughter of al-Sayyid Majid.
… Fruit … Planting … from dates crop of palm gardens …
This is the grave of the late …
al-Sayyid ʿAli bin Muhammad Abu Shabanah al-Husayni
Written by the humble ʿAli bin Husayn al-Bahrani
Oh grave, you should be equal with the stars in the sky, since you have embedded an innocent man.
You embedded a faithful and virtuous man.
Engraved by al-Sayyid Salih bin al- Sayyid Hashim.

ABN37

BCD

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21079° N 050.55126° E
المقاساتDimensions	171 cm (l) × 35 cm (w) × 44 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone in generally good condition. Shallow carved pointed niche design on upper surface (E). Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at both ends. Inscriptions on five surfaces, with two only partially legible.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد في حالة جيّدة عموماً. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند الطرفين. نقوش على خمسة أوجه، اثنان منها مقروءان جزئياً فحسب.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him.
Except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the. earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255).

الوجه C

He spent … At the life and afterlife …

الوجه D

… Muharram, year …
Written by the humble Masʿud
Oh grave, you should be boasted to *** other places … and the seven heavens.
Once you embedded a glorious per- *** son … but he is better than others.
Engraved by al-Sayyid Hashim.

ABN38

ABCDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21080° N 050.55125° E
المقاساتDimensions	130 cm (l) × 25 cm (w) × 38 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single narrow limestone slab gravestone with some areas of bad erosion and damage. No niche design on surface E. Raised decoration cut off at both ends. Partial inscriptions on two surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد ضيّق، فيه مواضع من التآكل الشديد والتلف. لا محراب على الوجه E. الزخرفة البارزة مقطوعة عند الطرفين. نقوش جزئية على وجهين.

الوجه A

Very deteriorated. Unable to read

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that…………
Except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter … (2:255)

الوجه C

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه D

Very deteriorated. Unable to read.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by al-Sayyid Hashim.

ABN39

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21082° N 050.55124° E
المقاساتDimensions	184 cm (l) × 40 cm (w) × 25 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone broken into three pieces

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مكسور إلى ثلاث قطع.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN40

1108/1697

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1108/1697
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21077° N 050.55125° E
المقاساتDimensions	179 cm (l) × 33 cm (w) × 26.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Carving very sharp and well-executed. Shallow carved rounded niche design on the upper surface (E). Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plint at both ends, one of which is eroded. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. النحت حادّ ومتقن التنفيذ. محراب مستدير غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، قائمة على قاعدة مستطيلة عند الطرفين، أحدهما متآكل. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Him. To Him belongs whatever is in Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes earth. Who is he that can intercede the heavens and whatever is on the with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge tends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding. Most High, the Most Great (2:255). and preserving them. And He is the Eden Paradise, whose doors will be recline, therein they will call for fruits in abundance and drinks, and beside them will be chaste females restraining their glances and of equal ages. (38:50–52). Allah, the Most Great has spoken the truth.
Every day, reading two parts of the Book of God for two baskets …
One basket from al-Kharajat garden, half basket from western garden and another half from the eastern and al-Sabkha.

الوجه D

The death date of the Late Maymunah bint al-Hajj ʿAli bin Muhammad
Al-Manami in ninth of Safar, one thousand and hundred and eight
Written by ʿAli bin Husayn bin Zayn al-Din, May Allah forgive them
May Allah bless a grave embedded a person like the sun, and made the clouds mourning it.
It is difficult that this chastity disappeared in the soil but unfortunately it has disappeared.
Engraved by al-Sayyid Naser bin al- Sayyid … al-Husayni, God Bless them

ABN41

BCDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21080° N 050.55122° E
المقاساتDimensions	121 cm (l) × 33 cm (w) × 37.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Some erosion on top surface (E). Shallow carved rounded niche design on top surface (E). Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch at both ends. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. شيء من التآكل في السطح العلوي (E). محراب مستدير غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط عند الطرفين. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede
Except by His permission! He knows and will happen to them in the what happens to them in this world, Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255).

الوجه C

At al-Bahrain land should be given the priority from the other income until
God inherited the earth and what ever on it … (Mani) …
……chosen……God paradise … seventh … year …

الوجه D

Fare of reading five parts of the Glorious Book of God everyday on the grave of al-Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ra⁠ʾuf bin al-Sayyid Husayn.
Three big baskets from … at Hillat al-Sayf, and two baskets for al-Hujja from Sihat Albalad garden … buried

الوجه E (العلوي)

Written by ʿAli bin Abdullah bin ʿAbd al-Samad, May Allah forgive them.
The grave of ʿAbd al-Ra⁠ʾuf is pleasant since he went to Allah with an innocent heart.
Because he was good outward and inward, he has got a high status.
Engraved by the skilled, al-Sayyid Naser bin Hashim, May Allah forgive them.

ABN42

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21079° N 050.55122° E
المقاساتDimensions	127.5 cm (l) × 18 cm (w) × 49.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone lying on its side

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مضطجع على جنبه.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN43

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21083° N 050.55120° E
المقاساتDimensions	88 cm (l) × 35 cm (w) × 29 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single small limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر صغير من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN44

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21079° N 050.55126° E
المقاساتDimensions	107 cm (l) × 35 cm (w) × 21 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN45

BDE

754/1353

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	754/1353
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21074° N 050.55118° E
المقاساتDimensions	227 cm (l) × 57 cm (w) × 45 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Very large. Raised decoration at both ends, three elements formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at one end and a single rounded arch on a rectangular plinth at the other end. Lacks any carving on the top surface (E). Reasonable condition, but with some general erosion. Inscriptions on four surfaces. Excavated to expose complete gravestone.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. كبير الحجم جدّاً. زخرفة بارزة عند الطرفين: ثلاثة عناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط على قاعدة مستطيلة عند طرف، وقوس مستدير مفرد على قاعدة مستطيلة عند الطرف الآخر. يخلو السطح العلوي (E) من أيّ نحت. حالته مقبولة، مع تآكل عامّ يسير. نقوش على أربعة أوجه. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد بتمامه.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Their Lord gives them glad tidings of Mercy from Him, and His pleasure and of Gardens for them. They will dwell therein
forever. Indeed, Allah has with Him a great reward (9:21–22). They shall enter them and also those who are righteous from among their fathers, and their wives and their children. and angels (13:23).
My worshipper! No fear shall be on you (43:68).
Enter unto them from every gate. (13:23).

الوجه D

… Muhammad bin al-Saʿid Saʿid bin Maʿali.
He died in nineteenth of
Safar, year of seven hundred and fifty-four.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

ABN46

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21070° N 050.55127° E
المقاساتDimensions	127.5 cm (l) × 25.5 cm (w) × 47 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	N-S

Single limestone slab gravestone. Found lying on its side in centre of collapsed shrine

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. وُجد مضطجعاً على جنبه في وسط مزار منهار.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN47

1067/1656

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1067/1656
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21060° N 050.55135° E
المقاساتDimensions	160.5 cm (l) × 37.5 cm (w) × 57 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Elaborate shallow carved rounded niche design with the top of the niche separated by a horizontal bar and the rounded end demarcated with a carved double line. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch at both ends. Generally good condition but with some patches of damage. Surface C has been crudely repaired. Inscriptions on five surfaces. Found within a small collapsed mosque that was excavated.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. محراب مستدير غائر ضحل متقن، أعلاه مفصول بشريط أفقي، وطرفه المستدير محدَّد بخطّ مزدوج منحوت. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط عند الطرفين. حالته جيّدة عموماً مع رقع من التلف. الوجه C رُمّم ترميماً خشناً. نقوش على خمسة أوجه. وُجد داخل مسجد صغير منهار نُقِّب عنه.

الوجه C

Received … five … (years) … Rabiʿ al-thani.
In the year of one thousand and sixtyseven of Hijra …
Ten parts of the Book of God the Powerful everyday, on the …

الوجه D

This shrine of … Al … al-Bahir … San.
… The holy, Haji.
Total … From … income / crop …
Written by the humble ʿAbd Muhammad bin Ahmad … Al-Asbaʿi
The far part … three hundred from … with crop … Al … eighth.
Nobody can explain my situation more than my grave.
One day we were like you until we died and left our lovers, friends and places.

ABN48

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21080° N 050.55132° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 98 cm (l) × 48 cm (w) × 54 cm (h) Slab 2: 98 cm (l) × 47 cm (w) × 35 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	N-S

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ABN49

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21080° N 050.55127° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 93 cm (l) × 29 cm (w) × 49 cm (h) Slab 2: 94 cm (l) × 28 cm (w) × 45 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Gravestone formed of double limestone slabs. Well preserved inscriptions on five surfaces but with some small areas of damage. Ornate shallow carved pointed niche decoration with elaborate vegetal pattern terminal carved into the upper surface (E). Damaged three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded or pointed arch at both ends. The rear of the central arch on the end surfaces (C and D) has inscriptions on it. A roll of brown plastic containing the powdered remains of herbs or a plant-based charm or medicine was found 50 cm below ground surface in the northern vicinity of the gravestone (Chapter 3). Excavated to expose whole gravestone. This also uncovered the rougher integral plinth of the gravestone that was intended to be below ground.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين. نقوش محفوظة جيّداً على خمسة أوجه، مع مواضع صغيرة من التلف. زخرفة محرابية مدبّبة غائرة ضحلة مزخرفة، ينتهي رأسها بنقش نباتي متقن محفور في السطح العلوي (E). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر متضرّرة من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أو مدبّب أوسط عند الطرفين. ظهر القوس الأوسط في الوجهين الطرفيين (C وD) يحمل نقوشاً. عُثر على لفافة بلاستيكية بنّية تضمّ بقايا مسحوقة لأعشاب أو حجاب أو دواء نباتي على عمق ٥٠ سم تحت سطح الأرض شمالي الشاهد (الفصل الثالث). نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً. وكشف ذلك أيضاً عن القاعدة الخشنة الملتحمة بالشاهد التي قُصد بقاؤها تحت الأرض.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High
The Most Great (2:255). Their Lord. gives them glad tidings of Mercy from Him, and His being pleased, and of Gardens (Paradise) for them wherein are everlasting delights (9:21). The angels will descend on them, (saying:) ‘Fear not, nor grieve; but receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised. We have been. your friends (41:30–31).
This is the grave of the late … Shaikh ʿAbd Allah
bin Naser bin Husayn Bin Muqallad.
… this is the savant …
… these will be the nearest to Allah, in the Gardens of Delight, a multitude of those will be from the first generation.
And a few of those will be from the later generations, they will be on thrones woven with gold and precious stones, reclining thereon face to face (56:11–16).

الوجه E (العلوي)

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Verily! of al-Qadr. And what will make you know what the night of al-Qadr is? The night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months. Therein descend the angels and the Spirit by Allah’s Permission with all Decrees. Peace! All that night until the appearance of dawn (97:1–5).
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. May the peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad, ʿAli, al-batul, The Grandsons, al-Sajad, al-Baqir, al- Sadiq, al-Kadhim, al-Rida, al-Taqi, al-Naqi, al-Askari and al-Mahdi Muhammad.
This blessed room is waqf for the great Shaikh, ʿAbd Allah bin Naser bin Husayn bin Muqallad.

ABN50

ACDE

1102/1691

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1102/1691
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21085° N 050.55127° E
المقاساتDimensions	140 cm (l) × 30 cm (w) × 40 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	N-S

Single limestone slab gravestone. Significant erosion in places. No niche design on surface E. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a narrow, rounded arch at both ends. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. تآكل كبير في مواضع منه. لا محراب على الوجه E. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير ضيّق عند الطرفين. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه A

Very deteriorated. It cannot be read.
He is the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue
… and believes in Allah, … And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower. Allah is the Protector of those who believe. He brings them out from darkness into light (2:255–257). God … has spoken the truth.

الوجه C

Eight shares from … garden)
Located behind Mani, one part is for the night …
Big basket by Bahraini weight.

الوجه D

Very deteriorated. It cannot be read.

الوجه E (العلوي)

… Muhammad, seventeenth of Rajab, year of one thousand, one hundred and two.
Oh grave … neighbour. ***)
… chastity, your neighbour has the neighbourhood rights.
… the late … Bint the late

ABSAbu Saiba1 شاهد

ABS1

ADE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21770° N 050.50523° E
المقاساتDimensions	151 cm (l) × 30 cm (w) × 48 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone enclosed in a glass display case inside a modern cement block shrine structure that was still in the process of construction in 2015. According to local informants the gravestone was found whilst digging new graves along with a pre-Islamic Tylos upright limestone stelae (41 cm [l] × 29 cm [w] × 11.5 cm [depth]). The stele is missing its upper figure, assuming one was present, and has two carved columns represented at the side of an upright central rectangular block (cf. Boucharlat and Salles 1989: 130–131; Lombard 1999: 212–215 for parallels). The stele has been transferred to the archaeological store in the Bahrain National Museum. The gravestone has three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch on a rectangular plinth at both ends. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد محاط بصندوق عرض زجاجي داخل بنية مزار حديثة من الكتل الإسمنتية كانت لا تزال قيد الإنشاء سنة ٢٠١٥. بحسب مخبرين محلّيين عُثر على الشاهد أثناء حفر قبور جديدة، ومعه شاهدة جنائزية جيرية قائمة من عصر تايلوس ما قبل الإسلام (٤١ سم طولاً × ٢٩ سم عرضاً × ١١٫٥ سم سُمكاً). وقد فُقد الجزء العلوي التصويري من الشاهدة إن كان لها واحد، وفيها عمودان منحوتان على جانبَي كتلة مستطيلة قائمة في الوسط (قارن: بوشارلا وسال ١٩٨٩: ١٣٠–١٣١؛ لومبار ١٩٩٩: ٢١٢–٢١٥ للنظائر). نُقلت الشاهدة إلى المخزن الأثري في متحف البحرين الوطني. للشاهد زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط على قاعدة مستطيلة عند الطرفين. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the
Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in al-Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All- Hearer, All-Knower (2:255–256).
Cannot be read because it is covered with glass.
Death of Shaikh Muhammad bin Shaikh ʿAli was …
The seventh day of Muharram, year … forty … and thousand

الوجه D

Reading one part every day on the grave of Shaikh Muhammad, and al

الوجه E (العلوي)

The one, who engraved it, is entreating … mercy.
His worshipper and his slave, al-Sayyid Naser.
The one, who wrote it, is entreating. the mercy of his glorious god.
His worshipper and his needy, ʿAbd al-Nabi bin Ahmad
That home of the Hereafter, We shall assign to those who rebel not against the truth with pride and oppression in the land nor do mischief by committing crimes. And the good end is. for the pious (28:83).
Allah and also His angels send their Blessings and Mercy on the Prophet. him, and you should greet him with the Islamic way of greeting (33:56). So whosoever does good equal to the weight of a small ant shall see it (99:7).

ASKAskar2 شاهد

ASK1

1066/1655

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1066/1655
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.05656° N 050.61818° E
المقاساتDimensions	Two slabs measured as one unit – 153 cm (l) × 16 cm (w) × 49 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs housed within a damaged shrine inside a vandalised mosque complex. The gravestone was set against a hollow cement superstructure ridged on top and filled with rubble. Partially legible inscriptions were found on one visible surface.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين داخل مزار متضرّر في مجمّع مسجد تعرّض للتخريب. وُضع الشاهد إلى بنية إسمنتية مجوَّفة مسنَّمة الأعلى محشوّة بالأنقاض. وُجدت نقوش مقروءة جزئياً على الوجه الظاهر الوحيد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

ASK2

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.05639° N 050.61821° E
المقاساتDimensions	160 cm (l) × 57 cm (w) × 26 cm maximum surviving height
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Partly destroyed gypsum gravestone in cemetery south of mosque and shrine. Scrolling vegetal decoration on four surfaces and partially legible inscription on one surface. The gypsum panels had been constructed around a stone rubble core. Excavated to expose the sides of the gravestone.

شاهد جبسي متهدّم جزئياً في المقبرة جنوبي المسجد والمزار. زخرفة نباتية متعرّجة على أربعة أوجه، ونقش مقروء جزئياً على وجه واحد. أُقيمت ألواح الجبس حول نواة من دبش الحجارة. نُقِّب عنه لكشف جانبَي الشاهد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

BARBarbar1 شاهد

BAR1

ACDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	76 cm (l) × 29 cm (w) × 36 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab from a double slab gravestone. Generally good condition. Shallow carved rectangular panel on upper surface (E) which was probably part of a niche design. Raised decoration has been cut off one end.

لوح جيري واحد من شاهد مزدوج اللوح. حالته جيّدة عموماً. لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة على السطح العلوي (E) لعلّها جزء من تصميم محرابي. الزخرفة البارزة مقطوعة عند أحد الطرفين.

الوجه A

Those are the dwellers of the Fire..
And they will abide therein forever. Verily, those who say: Our … Allah (2:255–256).
On the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He
Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. then has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never. break (2:255–256).

الوجه C

… Alhaj, two parts every day.
From The Holy Quran … all from Um Al-Suli Garden which is located at Jid Alhaj.

الوجه D

This part is lost.

الوجه E (العلوي)

The writer is seeking the mercy of his God, Abdalnabi Bin Ahmed.
(The remainder is an incomplete poem which cannot be translated)

BEITBeit al-Quran1 شاهد

BEIT1

ACDE

1089/1678

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1089/1678
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	139 cm (l) × 28 cm (w) × 45 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab gravestone in good condition. Shallow carved pointed niche design on upper surface (E). Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central narrow rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at both ends. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد في حالة جيّدة. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير ضيّق أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند الطرفين. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him ex-. cept by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter.
And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in al-Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold (2:255–256).
That will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer All-Knower (2:255–256). Their Lord gives them glad tidings of Mercy from Him, and that He is pleased with them, and of Gardens for them wherein are everlasting delights. They will dwell therein forever.. Verily, with Allah is a great reward (9:21–22). Therein they will recline; therein they will call for fruits in abundance and drinks; And beside. them will be chaste
females (virgins) restraining their glances only for their husbands, and of equal ages. This it is what you are promised for the Day of Reckoning (38:51–53). The Angels will descend on them, saying: Fear not, nor grieve; but receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your souls desire (41:30–31).

الوجه C

this is the shrine of Shaikh Yusuf bin Shaikh
ʿAli bin Kinbar, his death was in one thousand and eighty-nine.

الوجه D

Reading a one part of the Book of God the Powerful every day.
Proceeds of Um……palm garden located at Al-Bilad.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by al-Sayyid ʿAlawi, son of the good and the pious al-Sayyid Salih.
Oh grave, you embedded a full moon with a high rank, and famous person.
You should thank Allah because He gave you a unique thing that He did not give to others
Written by the humble ʿAbd Allah bin ʿAli al-Biladi al-Bahrani.

BAQBilad al-Qadim1 شاهد

BAQ1

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20597° N 050.54979° E
المقاساتDimensions	124 cm (l) × 26 cm (w) × 48 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab gravestone with some erosion, modern cement on top, and staining on one side surface

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد به تآكل، وإسمنت حديث في أعلاه، وتلطّخ في أحد وجهيه الجانبيين.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

DAIDaih1 شاهد

DAI1

ADE

650/1252

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	650/1252
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22513° N 050.53376° E
المقاساتDimensions	92 cm (l) × 25.5 cm (w) × 31.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single hollow limestone slab gravestone not in original position. Eroded. Inscriptions on three surfaces. Decorated on top surface (E) with a shallow carved rectangular panel which is not a niche with an engraved circle and two connected triangles above it. Red paint/pigment on the lettering at one end. Found buried under leaves and rubbish in a clump of trees. Now kept in a glass case made by the local community for its display in the cemetery.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مجوَّف، ليس في موضعه الأصلي. متآكل. نقوش على ثلاثة أوجه. مزخرف في السطح العلوي (E) بلوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة ليست محراباً، وفوقها دائرة محفورة ومثلّثان متّصلان. صبغة حمراء على الحروف عند أحد الطرفين. وُجد مدفوناً تحت الأوراق والنفايات في أَجَمَة من الأشجار. يُحفظ الآن في صندوق زجاجي صنعه أهل المكان لعرضه في المقبرة.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
We are your protectors in this world and in the other world, your souls can find in it what they desire … (41:31)

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

HOOHoora12 شاهد

HOO1

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.23116° N 050.58330° E
المقاساتDimensions	134 cm (l) × 28 cm (w) × 47 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

HOO2

1210/1796

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1210/1796
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.23128° N 050.58313° E
المقاساتDimensions	84 cm (l) × 44.5 cm (w) × 10 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Unusually shaped flat single limestone slab gravestone with rounded sides and shoulders leading to a narrower upper section culminating in two carved points on top. Eroded, and with partial inscription in Farsi on one surface. Possibly gravestone is of Iranian origin. Fixed flat onto the ground surface with plaster.

شاهد قبر مسطّح من لوح جيري واحد غريب الشكل، مستدير الجوانب والأكتاف، يضيق إلى قسم علوي أضيق ينتهي برأسين منحوتين في الأعلى. متآكل، وعليه نقش جزئي بالفارسية على وجه واحد. يُحتمل أن يكون الشاهد إيراني المنشأ. مثبَّت مسطّحاً على سطح الأرض بالجصّ.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

HOO3

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.23106° N 050.58335° E
المقاساتDimensions	130 cm (l) × 24 cm (w) × 37 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	N-S

Narrow single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر ضيّق من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

HOO4

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.23107° N 050.58332° E
المقاساتDimensions	138 cm (l) × 28.5 cm (w) × 47 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone found lying on its side

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد وُجد مضطجعاً على جنبه.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

HOO5

BCE

1107/1696

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1107/1696
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.23124° N 050.58547° E
المقاساتDimensions	163 cm (l) × 28.5 cm (w) × 34 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Well carved but with significant erosion in places. Partial shallow carved rectangular panel design on top surface (E), probably a niche. Raised decoration cut or broken off both ends. Inscriptions on five surfaces. Found tilted to the west. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. جيّد النحت مع تآكل كبير في مواضع منه. تصميم لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة جزئي على السطح العلوي (E)، لعلّه محراب. الزخرفة البارزة مقطوعة أو مكسورة عند الطرفين. نقوش على خمسة أوجه. وُجد مائلاً نحو الغرب. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge
Except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in al-Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold (2:255–256).

الوجه C

Every Tenth, eighty mann take from this …
At Abu Mandah field …
… the late … bint Shaikh …

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by al-Sayyid Naser bin al- Habr…. al-Sayyid Hashim …
… Soil … Abu … al-Karam it appeared … *** ʿAbd … (al-Samad)

HOO6

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.23070° N 050.58462° E
المقاساتDimensions	130 cm (l) × 33 cm (w) × 30 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single small limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر صغير من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

HOO7

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22981° N 050.58467° E
المقاساتDimensions	120 cm (l) × 61 cm (w) × 6 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Flat slab gravestone, possibly made of sandstone

شاهد قبر مسطّح، ربّما من حجر رملي.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

HOO8

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.23061° N 050.58352° E
المقاساتDimensions	149 cm (l) × 31 cm (w) × 45 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone found lying on its side

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد وُجد مضطجعاً على جنبه.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

HOO9

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.23160° N 050.58337° E
المقاساتDimensions	80 cm (l) × 30.5 cm (w) × 8 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Oval flat slab gravestone, possibly made of sandstone

شاهد قبر مسطّح بيضوي، ربّما من حجر رملي.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

HOO10

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.23140° N 050.58487° E
المقاساتDimensions	157 cm (l) × 30 cm (w) × 50 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	N-S

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

HOO11

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.23141° N 050.58489° E
المقاساتDimensions	160 cm (l) × 30.5 cm (w) × 56 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

HOO12

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.23139° N 050.58508° E
المقاساتDimensions	170 cm (l) × 25 cm (w) × 46 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NE-SW

Single limestone slab gravestone found lying on its side

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد وُجد مضطجعاً على جنبه.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

HUNHunaniyah1 شاهد

HUN1

1236/1821

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1236/1821
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.12262° N 050.55739° E
المقاساتDimensions	(of total grave) 263 cm (l) × 143 cm (w) × 84 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Relatively recent cement tomb with a laser engraved single upright marble slab gravestone. Inscription on one surface.

قبر إسمنتي حديث نسبياً بشاهد رخامي قائم مفرد محفور بالليزر. نقش على وجه واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

JBHJebelat Habshi13 شاهد

JBH1

BCDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21646° N 050.53079° E
المقاساتDimensions	83.5 cm (l) × 24 cm (w) × 39.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NE-SW

Single hollow limestone slab gravestone. Half of a double slab gravestone. Eroded unidentifiable three element raised decoration at one end. Inscriptions on two surfaces. The letter carving is quite crude and part of a side surface (A) is cut by a vertical intentionally chiselled semi-circular channel.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مجوَّف. نصف شاهد مزدوج اللوح. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند أحد الطرفين. نقوش على وجهين. نحت الحروف خشن نوعاً ما، وأحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A) يقطعه أخدود نصف دائري رأسيّ نُحت عمداً.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but He, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists.
Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever in (2:255).

الوجه C

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions. Surfaces D and E, JBH1

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

JBH2

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21656° N 050.53088° E
المقاساتDimensions	150 cm (l) × 31 cm (w) × 50 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

JBH3

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21658° N 050.53093° E
المقاساتDimensions	142 cm (l) × 30.5 cm (w) × 54.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

JBH4

CDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21659° N 050.53098° E
المقاساتDimensions	75 cm (l) × 25 cm (w) × 48.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single hollow limestone slab gravestone, broken in two. Half of a double slab gravestone. Unidentifiable eroded raised decoration at one end. Some erosion on the upper surfaces and has a hole drilled in surface C. Partial inscriptions on three surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مجوَّف، مكسور إلى نصفين. نصف شاهد مزدوج اللوح. زخرفة بارزة متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند أحد الطرفين. شيء من التآكل في الأسطح العلوية، وفيه ثقب محفور في الوجه C. نقوش جزئية على ثلاثة أوجه.

الوجه C

… Muhammed bin Hassan, engraved by Abdalhussain Alsyed.)

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions. Surfaces D and E, JBH4

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

JBH5

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21655° N 050.53094° E
المقاساتDimensions	Hollow fragment 51 cm (l) × 31.5 cm (w) × 31 cm (h). Inscribed fragment 35 cm (l) × 21 cm (w) × 22 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Group of four fragments of limestone gravestone

مجموعة من أربع كِسَر لشاهد قبر جيري.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

JBH6

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21654° N 050.53095° E
المقاساتDimensions	102 cm (l) × 23 cm (w) × 30 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Very eroded. Remnants of unidentifiable raised decoration at both ends. Partial inscription on one surface.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. شديد التآكل. بقايا زخرفة بارزة غير مُعرَّفة عند الطرفين. نقش جزئي على وجه واحد.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

JBH7

1098/1687

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1098/1687
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21664° N 050.53097° E
المقاساتDimensions	163 cm (l) × 26 cm (w) × 57 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central thin rounded flat slab all set on a rectangular plinth at both ends. The raised decoration is partially broken off at one end and the back of the raised decoration on one end surface (D) has traces of what appears to be rosette carving. Badly eroded in places where above ground. Full inscriptions on two surfaces, and partial inscriptions on two other surfaces. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين ولوح مسطّح مستدير رفيع أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند الطرفين. الزخرفة البارزة مكسورة جزئياً عند أحد الطرفين، وفي ظهر الزخرفة على أحد الوجهين الطرفيين (D) آثار ما يبدو أنّه نحت وريدات. متآكل تآكلاً شديداً في المواضع التي كانت فوق سطح الأرض. نقوش كاملة على وجهين، ونقوش جزئية على وجهين آخرين. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills.
His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah, and then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All- Hearer, All-Knower (2:255–256). God Almighty has spoken the truth..
No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه D

This is the grave of the late, the forgiven, Shaikh ʿAli bin Shaikh Ahmad
bin ʿAbd al-Salam, died in the fif
Written by al-Sayyid ….

JBH8

BCE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21653° N 050.53095° E
المقاساتDimensions	116.5 cm (l) × 23 cm (w) × 42 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single hollow limestone slab gravestone. Very eroded on top and on some other areas. Partially legible inscriptions on four surfaces. Unidentifiable raised decoration at both ends. Excavated to expose complete gravestone.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مجوَّف. شديد التآكل في الأعلى وفي مواضع أخرى. نقوش مقروءة جزئياً على أربعة أوجه. زخرفة بارزة غير مُعرَّفة عند الطرفين. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد بتمامه.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede this world, and will happen to them He knows what happens to them in in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255).

الوجه C

… from crop … from … at land …
… The holy … Shaikh … bin Naser …

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

JBH9

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21651° N 050.53094° E
المقاساتDimensions	66 cm (l) × 22 cm (w) × 34.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single hollow limestone slab gravestone. Very eroded. Probably once one part of a double slab gravestone. Unidentifiable raised decoration at one end. Partial inscriptions on two surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مجوَّف. شديد التآكل. لعلّه كان جزءاً من شاهد مزدوج اللوح. زخرفة بارزة غير مُعرَّفة عند أحد الطرفين. نقوش جزئية على وجهين.

الوجه A

No carving or inscriptions.
… Allah …
No carving or inscriptions. Surfaces C and E, JBH9
… The late Shaikh ʿAli bin ʿAbd al-Husayn.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

JBH10

ABD

1100/1689

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1100/1689
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21650° N 050.53093° E
المقاساتDimensions	155 cm (l) × 31.5 cm (w) × 55.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Shallow carved rounded niche design on upper surface (E). Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central thin flat rounded slab all set on a rectangular plinth at both ends. Well-carved inscriptions on five surfaces. The roughly carved base that was designed to be below the ground surface can be seen. In generally good condition but with some patches of erosion.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. محراب مستدير غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين ولوح مستدير مسطّح رفيع أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند الطرفين. نقوش جيّدة النحت على خمسة أوجه. تظهر القاعدة الخشنة النحت التي صُمّمت لتكون تحت سطح الأرض. في حالة جيّدة عموماً مع رقع من التآكل.

الوجه A

The angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but receive the glad tidings of the paradise which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and are in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your inner-selves desire, and therein you shall have all for which you ask. An entertainwhose doors will be opened for them, Therein they will recline, therein they. will call for fruits in abundance
And drinks. And beside them will be chaste females restraining their glances and of equal ages. This is what you are promised for the day of Reckoning. Verily, this is our provision which will never finish (38:50– 54). Eat and drink comfortably for that which you used to do. They will recline on thrones arranged in ranks. And shall marry them to … (52:19–20).

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills.
His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the right path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever … (2:255–256).
Accomplishment of the Quran…… followed by sixteen muhammadiyyah from the income …. Baskets …
Twenty shares … completeness … is ten shares … Ten shares from zakat …
Engraved by Muhammad Saʿid …

الوجه D

This is the shrine of the late Hakima (possibly Halima) bint Shaikh ʿAli bin Shaikh Ahmad bin …
… in twelfth of Jumada al-awwal in one thousand and one hundred.
Written by Husayn bin ʿAli bin Zayn al-Din al-Bahrani, may Allah forgive them.
… Oh how the soil embedded her *** until the cloud cried on her.
She has got the happiness of the *** world and the afterlife, and she went to Allah until Allah showed her …
Engraved by al-Sayyid Naser Bin al- Sayyid Hashim, May Allah forgive them.

JBH11

BDE

1003/1594

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1003/1594
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21654° N 050.53101° E
المقاساتDimensions	127 cm (l) × 30 cm (w) × 41 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Shallow carved pointed niche design on upper surface (E). Eroded unidentifiable probably three element raised decoration at both ends. Double rosettes carved at each end on upper surface (E). Inscriptions on five surfaces. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). زخرفة بارزة متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة، ثلاثية العناصر على الأرجح، عند الطرفين. وريدتان مزدوجتان منحوتتان عند كلّ طرف من السطح العلوي (E). نقوش على خمسة أوجه. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on
The earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over (2:255).
Written by the one who trusts in his God, ʿAbd al-Husayn bin Muhammad.
Engraved by the one who trusts in his Great God, Salman bin ʿAli, 1007..1007

الوجه D

The death of the Blissful, ʿAbd al- Salam bin Naser, eighth of Rabiʿ
After one thousand and three of the Prophet’s migration.

الوجه E (العلوي)

The destiny engraved on stone. Death is the inevitable fate.
And the grave is a lesson … followed *** by the history.

JBH12

ACD

1002/1593

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1002/1593
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21634° N 050.52946° E
المقاساتDimensions	151 cm (l) × 30 cm (w) × 56 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single hollow limestone slab gravestone. Found lying on its side and excavated to expose inscriptions on four surfaces, but too fragile to move to record the buried surface (B). Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central thin rounded slab all set on a rectangular plinth at each end. Shallow carved pointed niche design on upper surface (E).

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مجوَّف. وُجد مضطجعاً على جنبه، ونُقِّب عنه لكشف نقوش أربعة أوجه، غير أنّه أهشّ من أن يُحرَّك لتوثيق الوجه المدفون (B). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين ولوح مستدير رفيع أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند كلّ طرف. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E).

الوجه A

The angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but receive the glad tidings of the paradise which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and are in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your inner-selves desire, and therein you shall have all for which you ask. (41:30–31).
Eden Paradise, whose doors will be opened for them. Therein they will recline, therein they will call for fruits in abundance and drinks. And beside them will be chaste females restraining their glances and of equal ages. This is what you are promised for the day of Reckoning. Verily, this is our provision which will never finish (38:50–54). God Almighty has spoken the truth.
Not able to read. ………………………………………………

الوجه C

… This is … al-Bahrayn … Al …

الوجه D

This is the grave of the late Hajj Mubarak Bin Ismaʿil.
Died after one thousand and two.
Written by the least, the one who stands in need of the Only Owner of the Day of Reckoning, Husayn bin ʿAli bin Zayn al-Din.
Be aware that the grave is the place *** of bodies but the souls go to the Generous.
You are really blessed and a lover of ʿAli, so in the afterlife you will live in happiness.
Engraved by al-Sayyid Naser bin al- Sayyid Hashim al-Husayni.

JBH13

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21656° N 050.53002° E
المقاساتDimensions	104 cm (l) × 44 cm (w) × 23 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single hollow limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مجوَّف.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

JIDJidhafs1 شاهد

JID1

ADE

903/1497

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	903/1497
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22020° N 050.53889° E
المقاساتDimensions	122 cm (l) × 27 cm (w) × 25.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs measured as one unit because of its poor condition. Very eroded with traces of cement between the two slabs. Partial inscriptions on two surfaces. Excavated to expose gravestone as almost completely buried and tilted on its side.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين قيس وحدةً واحدة لسوء حالته. شديد التآكل، وبين اللوحين آثار إسمنت. نقوش جزئية على وجهين. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد إذ كان مدفوناً كلّه تقريباً ومائلاً على جنبه.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious,…………
Whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what will happen to them in the Hereafter happens to them in this world, and and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels. no fatigue in guarding and preserving them (2:255).
No carving or inscriptions.
Month of Jumada II, year 903.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

JAIJidhafs al-Imam3 شاهد

JAI1

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21914° N 050.53564° E
المقاساتDimensions	162 cm (l) × 23.5 cm (w) × 54 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single solid limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مصمت.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

JAI2

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21891° N 050.53574° E
المقاساتDimensions	155 cm (l) × 28.5 cm (w) × 37 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

JAI3

BCDE

1046/1636

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1046/1636
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21879° N 050.53586° E
المقاساتDimensions	136 cm (l) × 30 cm (w) × 48.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Very eroded on top and parts of upper surface. Remains of three element unidentifiable raised decoration at one end. Partial inscriptions on four surfaces. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. شديد التآكل في الأعلى وفي أجزاء من السطح العلوي. بقايا زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر غير مُعرَّفة عند أحد الطرفين. نقوش جزئية على أربعة أوجه. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede. with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter.
And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving. them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255). God’s blessings and peace be upon Muhammad and his family.

الوجه C

This is the grave … Fifteen.
… Ramadan, year one thousand, forty-six.

الوجه D

This grave of the late …
His God, Shaikh Muhammad bin ʿAbd Allah … Abu …

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KARKarranah5 شاهد

KAR1

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22647° N 050.51442° E
المقاساتDimensions	Not measured
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Grave covered in concrete

القبر مغطّى بالخرسانة.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

KAR2

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22675° N 050.51525° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 62 cm (l) × 27 cm (w) × 40 cm (h) Slab 2: 72 cm (l) × 27 cm (w) × 40 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

KAR3

847/1443

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	847/1443
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22676° N 050.51526° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 72 cm (l) × 27 cm (w) × 31 cm (h) Slab 2: 59 cm (l) × 27 cm (w) × 31 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs. Eroded unidentifiable raised decoration at both ends. Badly eroded on top and upper parts of all the side and end surfaces where they were above the ground surface. Inscriptions on four surfaces and bottom half of shallow carved rectangular panel design, probably a niche, on upper surface (E). Traces of red paint/pigment on the lettering on two surfaces. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين. زخرفة بارزة متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند الطرفين. متآكل تآكلاً شديداً في الأعلى وفي أعالي الأوجه الجانبية والطرفية كلّها حيث كانت فوق سطح الأرض. نقوش على أربعة أوجه، والنصف الأسفل من تصميم لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة، لعلّها محراب، على السطح العلوي (E). آثار صبغة حمراء على الحروف في وجهين. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped. but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes
Whatever is in the heavens and what- Him. To Him belongs ever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! (2:255)
… year eight hundred and forty-seven.
… Allah …
The chaste lady, Bi Bi Shah Zanan bint Mansur bin ʿAli bin ʿAbd al-Amir (al-Naser) Muhammad. May Allah have mercy on her.. ()

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KAR4

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22670° N 050.51522° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 74 cm (l) × 49 cm (w) × 43 cm (h) Slab 2: 96 cm (l) × 48.5 cm (w) × 36 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of double hollow limestone slabs

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين مجوَّفين.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

KAR5

ABCDE

965/1557

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	965/1557
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22861° N 050.51462° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 99.5 cm (l) × 40 cm (w) × 45 cm (h) Slab 2: 100 cm (l) × 42 cm (w) × 35 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	N-S

Gravestone formed of two limestone slabs set into the floor in the Sheikh Nasser bin Muhammad bin Shaikh Abdullah al-Rabi shrine/mosque. Eroded (due to moisture) inside shrine structure. Modern tile flooring that covered the gravestone was removed to expose it. Eroded and unidentifiable raised rectangular decoration at both ends. Remains of decoration including a carved circle, and shallow carved rounded niche design with an arrow carved within a small rectangle above the rounded end of the niche on the top surface (E). Inscriptions on four surfaces.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مغروسين في أرضية مزار/مسجد الشيخ ناصر بن محمّد بن الشيخ عبد الله الربيع. متآكل (بفعل الرطوبة) داخل بنية المزار. رُفع البلاط الحديث الذي كان يغطّي الشاهد لكشفه. زخرفة مستطيلة بارزة متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند الطرفين. بقايا زخرفة تشمل دائرة منحوتة، ومحراباً مستديراً غائراً ضحلاً فوق طرفه المستدير سهم منحوت داخل مستطيل صغير، على السطح العلوي (E). نقوش على أربعة أوجه.

الوجه A

Praise be to Allah. There is no god but Allah. Praise be to Allah. God’s blessings upon Muhammad al- Mustafa, God’s blessings upon Ali al-Murtada, God’s blessings upon Fatimah al-Zahra⁠ʾ, God’s blessings upon al-Hasan, God blessings upon al-Husayn, God’s blessings upon ʿAli bin al-Husayn, God’s blessings upon Muhammad, God’s blessings upon Jaʿfar, God’s blessings upon Musa, God’s blessings upon ʿAli, God’s blessings upon Muhammad, God’s blessings upon ʿAli, God’s blessings upon al-Hasan al-ʿAskari, and God’s blessings upon al-Hujjah al-Khalaf al-Hadi al-Mahdi. God’s blessings upon all of them …
Verily, We have sent it down in the al- Qadr night. And what will make you know what the night of al-Qadr night is. The al-Qadr night is better than a thousand months. Therein descend the angels and the Spirit by Allah’s Permission with all decrees. There is peace until the appearance of dawn (97:1–5).

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that … (2:255)

الوجه C

…….. nine hundred and sixty five … endowment … Muhammad … Naser bin Rabiʿ … reading of Allah’s book, from crop of …

الوجه D

… six … Allah … His mercy … Barbaghi …
Naser bin ʿAbd Allah bin Rabiʿ al- Awali, in twentieth of Rajab, nine hundred and sixty-five.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHAAl-Khamis25 شاهد

KHA1

ADE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22861° N 050.51462° E
المقاساتDimensions	33 cm (l) × 36 cm (w) × 47 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab, part of double slab gravestone. Eroded. Not in original position. Eroded three element raised decoration at one end with one facetted cube identifiable. Partial inscriptions on three surfaces. Previous Publication: Number 21, Kalus (1990: 53).

لوح جيري واحد، جزء من شاهد مزدوج اللوح. متآكل. ليس في موضعه الأصلي. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر متآكلة عند أحد الطرفين يُتبيَّن فيها مكعّب مضلّع واحد. نقوش جزئية على ثلاثة أوجه. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ٢١، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٥٣).

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most. Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah.
His Seat … the heavens and the earth. (2:255).
Whoever disbelieves in al-Taghut (2:256).
And believes in Allah, then he has
The most trustworthy handhold that will never break (2:256)..

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHA2

BDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20849° N 050.54841° E
المقاساتDimensions	83.5 cm (l) × 36 cm (w) × 42 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab gravestone, part of double slab gravestone. Not in original position and not associated with neighbouring stone. Eroded and unidentifiable three element raised decoration at one end. Inscriptions on three surfaces. Previous Publication: Number S6, Kalus (1995: 137–138).

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد، جزء من شاهد مزدوج اللوح. ليس في موضعه الأصلي ولا صلة له بالحجر المجاور. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند أحد الطرفين. نقوش على ثلاثة أوجه. نُشر سابقاً: رقم S6، كالوس (١٩٩٥: ١٣٧–١٣٨).

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Verily, we have given you a manifest victory.
Straight path. And that Allah may help you with strong help (48:1–3). Gardens of Eden, which they shall enter (13:23).
No carving or inscriptions

الوجه D

The blessed late, the example of great masters has died …
Glory of the religion, ʿAbd al-Aziz bin Ibrahim bin Salih. God rest his soul.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHA3

ABCDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20847° N 050.54841° E
المقاساتDimensions	60 cm (l) × 30.5 cm (w) × 35 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone, part of double slab gravestone. Not in original position and not associated with neighbouring stone. Inscriptions on two surfaces. Previous Publication: Number S4, Kalus (1995: 135).

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد، جزء من شاهد مزدوج اللوح. ليس في موضعه الأصلي ولا صلة له بالحجر المجاور. نقوش على وجهين. نُشر سابقاً: رقم S4، كالوس (١٩٩٥: ١٣٥).

الوجه A

The late …, the honoured, the master was …
… Kamal Aldain Muhammad Bin Ali Bin Esa Bin Ali Bin …
May Allah have mercy on them, in … day of Shaʿban, year of … And hundred …

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Verily, we have given you a manifest victory.
That Allah may forgive you your sins of the past and the future. And complete His favour on you, And that Allah may help you with strong help (48:1–3).

الوجه C

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHA4

ABDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20848° N 050.54844° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 80 cm (l) × 32 cm (w) × 48 cm (h) Slab 2: 57 cm (l) × 34 cm (w) × 33 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of double limestone slabs. Significant erosion in places, particularly where it was exposed above the surface of the shrine mound. Three element raised decoration at one end formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch and eroded unidentifiable raised decoration at the other end. Traces of shallow carved rectangular panel design, probably part of a niche, on the top surface (E) of the less eroded slab. Partially legible inscriptions on three surfaces. Excavated to expose associated shrine and whole gravestone.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين. تآكل كبير في مواضع منه، ولا سيّما حيث كان مكشوفاً فوق سطح تلّ المزار. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند أحد الطرفين من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، وزخرفة بارزة متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند الطرف الآخر. آثار تصميم لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة، لعلّها جزء من محراب، على السطح العلوي (E) للّوح الأقلّ تآكلاً. نقوش مقروءة جزئياً على ثلاثة أوجه. نُقِّب عنه لكشف المزار المرتبط به والشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه A

… Muham … And those …

الوجه B

… the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, there is no deity but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is
in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission!. He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter (2:255).
Grave of Shaikh Has …
Has …

الوجه D

Very deteriorated. Unable to read.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Very deteriorated. Unable to read.

KHA5

ACDE

997/1588

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	997/1588
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20851° N 050.54845° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 61 cm (l) × 24 cm (w) × 40 cm (h) Slab 2: 70 cm (l) × 22 cm (w) × 40 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of double limestone slabs. Unidentifiable three element raised decoration at both ends. Shallow carved rounded niche design on top surface (E). Red paint/pigment on the lettering on two surfaces. Inscriptions on four surfaces. Excavated within collapsed shrine.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر غير مُعرَّفة عند الطرفين. محراب مستدير غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). صبغة حمراء على الحروف في وجهين. نقوش على أربعة أوجه. نُقِّب عنه داخل مزار منهار.

الوجه A

And Musa al-Kadhim … upon ʿAli bin Musa al-Rida. Peace be upon Muhammad al-Naqi. Peace be upon ʿAli al-Taqqi. Peace be upon al-Hasan al-ʿAskari. Peace be upon al-Hujjah al-Mahdi. May peace from Allah be upon all of them.
Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows
what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And (2:255). The angels will descend on them, saying: Fear not, nor grieve; but receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised (41:30).

الوجه C

… in the eleventh.
Of Muharram, in nine hundred and ninety-seven.

الوجه D

The noble and chaste lady,.
Muluk bint al-Sayyid ʿAbd al-ʿAziz, died.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHA6

ACDE

407/1016

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	407/1016
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20850° N 050.54847° E
المقاساتDimensions	74.5 cm (L) × 19 cm (W) × 40 cm (H)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab, part of a double slab gravestone. Cracked. Eroded and unidentifiable three element raised decoration set on a rectangular plinth at one end. Traces of shallow carved rectangular panel design on the top surface (E). Red paint/pigment on lettering on all three inscribed surfaces. Inscriptions on three surfaces. Excavated within collapsed shrine.

لوح جيري واحد، جزء من شاهد مزدوج اللوح. متشقّق. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة قائمة على قاعدة مستطيلة عند أحد الطرفين. آثار تصميم لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة على السطح العلوي (E). صبغة حمراء على الحروف في الأوجه المنقوشة الثلاثة كلّها. نقوش على ثلاثة أوجه. نُقِّب عنه داخل مزار منهار.

الوجه A

And Peace be upon Jaʿfar al-Sadiq and Musa al-Kadhim. Peace be upon ʿAli bin Musa al-Rida. Peace be upon Muhammad al … longs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except
His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255).

الوجه C

In the beginning of the month of
Jumada al-awwal..
In the year of four hundred and seven.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions. Surfaces D and E, KHA6

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHA7

BCDE

1105/1694

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1105/1694
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20843° N 050.54847° E
المقاساتDimensions	156 cm (l) × 29.5 cm (w) × 39 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Cracked and broken on top where it was exposed above the ground surface. Possible traces of red paint/pigment on some of the lettering. Raised decoration, which was possibly set on rectangular plinths has been cut off each end. Inscriptions on five surfaces. Shallow carved rounded niche design on the top surface (E). Excavated inside the main room of a collapsed shrine. The gravestone states that the shrine was built for the person it commemorates, Shaikh Muhammad bin al-Mabrur Shaikh Majid.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. متشقّق ومكسور في الأعلى حيث كان مكشوفاً فوق سطح الأرض. آثار محتملة لصبغة حمراء على بعض الحروف. الزخرفة البارزة، التي لعلّها كانت قائمة على قواعد مستطيلة، مقطوعة عند كلّ طرف. نقوش على خمسة أوجه. محراب مستدير غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). نُقِّب عنه داخل الغرفة الرئيسة لمزار منهار. ينصّ الشاهد على أنّ المزار بُني لصاحبه الذي يخلّده: الشيخ محمّد بن المبرور الشيخ ماجد.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither Him belongs whatever is in the heavslumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To is he that can intercede with Him exens and whatever is on the earth. Who cept by His permission! He knows … And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends
over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in Guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most compulsion in religion. Verily, the the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves Right Path has become distinct from in Allah, then has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never. break. And Allah is All-Hearer All- Knower (2:255–256). Allah and His Great Prophet have spoken the truth.

الوجه C

This is the shrine of the late Shaikh Muhammad bin al-Mabrur Shaikh Majid, may Allah be merciful to him, he died on Friday, nineteenth
of Shaʿban, year one thousand one hundred and five.

الوجه D

Reading one part of the Book of God the Powerful, for fifteen Muhammadiyyah.
From income of the al-Mahall palms which are located in the backyard of Mani in al-Bahrayn.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by al-Sayyid Naser Bin the late al-Sayyid Hashim al-Husayni, May Allah forgive them.
Oh grave, be proud you embedded … and illuminated … sadness …
… paradise … offered to me … may be *** … people

KHA8

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20837° N 050.54841° E
المقاساتDimensions	168 cm (l) × 36 cm (w) × 46 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Very eroded except on one surface. Inscription on one surface, and partially legible inscription on another surface. Not in original position. Previous Publication: Number 17, Kalus (1990: 48).

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. شديد التآكل إلا في وجه واحد. نقش على وجه، ونقش مقروء جزئياً على وجه آخر. ليس في موضعه الأصلي. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ١٧، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٤٨).

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHA9

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20838° N 050.54844° E
المقاساتDimensions	141 cm (l) × 40 cm (w) × 60 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

KHA10

ACDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20836° N 050.54842° E
المقاساتDimensions	157 cm (l) × 37 cm (w) × 53 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Heavily eroded on top surface (E) and one side surface (A). Inscriptions on four surfaces. Raised decoration broken or cut off at one end and eroded or the other end, but with one facetted cube and a central rounded arch identifiable. Not in original position. Previous Publication: Number 13, Kalus (1990: 37). The raised decoration from the one end has disappeared since it was recorded by Kalus (cf.1990: Pl. XV).

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. متآكل تآكلاً بالغاً في السطح العلوي (E) وفي أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A). نقوش على أربعة أوجه. الزخرفة البارزة مكسورة أو مقطوعة عند طرف ومتآكلة عند الآخر، وإن تُبيّن فيها مكعّب مضلّع وقوس مستدير أوسط. ليس في موضعه الأصلي. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ١٣، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٣٧). اختفت الزخرفة البارزة من أحد الطرفين منذ وثّقها كالوس (قارن ١٩٩٠: لوحة XV).

الوجه A

No carving or inscriptions.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat
And the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And Verily, the Right Path has become dis- There is no compulsion in religion. tinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower. Allah is the Protector of those who believe. He brings them. out from darkness into light. But as for those who disbelieve, their supporters are Taghut (2:255–257).

الوجه C

… unless … Allah … night between … thirty-seven …

الوجه D

Grave of the late, the blessed, al-Sayyid Darwish bin
al-Sayyid Naser Bin al-Mutawwaj al- Sayyid Sulayman.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Inscribed by al-Sayyid Hashim …
al-Sayyid ʿAli …

KHA11

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20836° N 050.54845° E
المقاساتDimensions	178 cm (l) × 33 cm (w) × 64 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single hollow limestone slab gravestone. No inscriptions. Three element raised decoration at one end formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch. At the other end the raised decoration has been cleanly cut off. The gravestone is unfinished and there are cut marks on the one side surface (A) where the stone has been roughly sawn into shape

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد مجوَّف. لا نقوش. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند أحد الطرفين من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط. وعند الطرف الآخر قُطعت الزخرفة البارزة قطعاً نظيفاً. الشاهد غير مكتمل، وفي أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A) آثار قطعٍ حيث نُشر الحجر نشراً خشناً ليأخذ شكله.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

KHA12

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20834° N 050.54844° E
المقاساتDimensions	Two slabs measured as one unit – 127 cm (l) × 34 cm (w) × 48 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of double limestone slabs. Some erosion on top. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at each end. Possibly in original position close to mosque wall. Inscriptions on five surfaces. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين. شيء من التآكل في الأعلى. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند كلّ طرف. لعلّه في موضعه الأصلي قريباً من جدار المسجد. نقوش على خمسة أوجه. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede and will happen to them in the what happens to them in this world, Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and. He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them (2:255–257).
Glad Mercy from Him, and His being pleased with them, and of Paradise for them wherein are everlasting. delights.
They will dwell therein forever. Verily, with Allah is a great reward (9:21–22).
Darkness, those are the dwellers of the Fire.
And they will abide therein for-. ever (2:257). Their Lord gives them (9:21–22).

الوجه E (العلوي)

… the soil and he is the moon of science and work.
… eighty-six, Awal Island.
… blessed grave … ʿAli leaves …

KHA13

CDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20835° N 050.54846° E
المقاساتDimensions	143 cm (l) × 30.5 cm (w) × 39.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Top surface (E) eroded but a shallow carved rectangular panel design, probably a niche is identifiable. Inscriptions on five surfaces, two only partially legible. Raised decoration has been cut off at each end and these were set on rectangular plinths which remain. Not in original position. Previous Publication: Number 19, Kalus (1990: 50)

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. السطح العلوي (E) متآكل، غير أنّه يُتبيَّن فيه تصميم لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة لعلّها محراب. نقوش على خمسة أوجه، اثنان منها مقروءان جزئياً فحسب. الزخرفة البارزة مقطوعة عند كلّ طرف، وكانت قائمة على قواعد مستطيلة لا تزال باقية. ليس في موضعه الأصلي. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ١٩، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٥٠).

الوجه C

This is the grave of the blessed … The Prophet … Mercy on him …
… Thousand … in …

الوجه D

Very deteriorated. Unable to read.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Very deteriorated. Unable to read.

KHA14

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20833° N 050.54845° E
المقاساتDimensions	138 cm (l) × 37 cm (w) × 54.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

KHA15

ABCDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20831° N 050.54846° E
المقاساتDimensions	126.5 cm (l) × 33 cm (w) × 48 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Some erosion at the base and at one end, suggesting it was upended and left exposed for some time. Not in original position. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central thin rounded arch all set on a shallow rectangular plinth at each end. Shallow carved rounded riche design on upper surface (E). Hole drilled into one end surface (C). Inscriptions on five surfaces. Previous Publication: Number 12, Kalus (1990: 35)

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. شيء من التآكل عند القاعدة وعند أحد الطرفين، ممّا يرجّح أنّه قُلب على طرفه وتُرك مكشوفاً مدّة. ليس في موضعه الأصلي. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير رفيع أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة ضحلة عند كلّ طرف. محراب مستدير غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). ثقب محفور في أحد الوجهين الطرفيين (C). نقوش على خمسة أوجه. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ١٢، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٣٥).

الوجه A

Inscription cannot be read.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him
… His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path.. Whoever disbelieves in al-Taghut … in Allah (2:255–256).

الوجه C

… from proceeds share … known as … located … Katkatan … everyday one part of the Quran should be

الوجه D

… six hundred and fifty-four …
Known as …

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by Husayn bin ʿAli Bin Fardan al-Manami.
Oh grave, you embedded Naser who *** is great, dignified and polite
… proud … highclass …
Written by Husayn bin ʿAli bin Zayn al-Din, may Allah forgive him.

KHA16

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20832° N 050.54847° E
المقاساتDimensions	138 cm (l) × 31.5 cm (w) × 51.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

KHA17

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20829° N 050.54847° E
المقاساتDimensions	175 cm (l) × 33.5 cm (w) × 60 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Eroded three element raised decoration with one facetted cube and central rounded arch identifiable at one end, decoration cut off at the other end. Inscriptions on four surfaces. Not in original position. Previous Publication: Number 18, Kalus (1990: 49)

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر متآكلة يُتبيَّن فيها مكعّب مضلّع وقوس مستدير أوسط عند طرف، والزخرفة مقطوعة عند الطرف الآخر. نقوش على أربعة أوجه. ليس في موضعه الأصلي. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ١٨، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٤٩).

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede. with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world.
And will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever
Disbelieves in al-Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, those who believe. He brings them out from
Darkness into light. But as for those who disbelieve, their supporters are light into darkness. Those are the Taghut, they bring them out from abide therein forever (2:255–257). dwellers of the Fire, and they will Verily, those who say: Our Lord is (41:30–32).
Fear not nor grieve, but receive the glad tidings of paradise
which you have been promised (41:30). We have been your friends in the life
of this world and are in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your inner-selves desire
And therein you shall have all for which you ask. An entertainment from the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (41:31–32).

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHA18

1138/1726

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1138/1726
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20830° N 050.54849° E
المقاساتDimensions	127 cm (l) × 22.5 cm (w) × 31 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Heavily eroded. Raised decoration cut off at both ends. The gravestone has been deliberately recut on one surface (B) to remove the inscriptions except in the lower right corner where a fragment of the original inscribed surface remains. Partially legible inscriptions on four surfaces. Not in original position.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. متآكل تآكلاً بالغاً. الزخرفة البارزة مقطوعة عند الطرفين. أُعيد نحت أحد أوجه الشاهد (B) عمداً لإزالة النقوش، إلا في الزاوية اليمنى السفلى حيث بقيت كِسرة من السطح المنقوش الأصلي. نقوش مقروءة جزئياً على أربعة أوجه. ليس في موضعه الأصلي.

الوجه C

… and the holy …
Al-Firdawsi Shaikh Muhammad bin Shaikh ʿAbd a[l]……bin Hasan.
Glorious Ramadan, year of one thousand, one hundred thirty-eight..

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by … al-Sayyid …) ()

KHA19

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20828° N 050.54845° E
المقاساتDimensions	156 cm (l) × 44 cm (w) × 50 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

KHA20

ACDE

846/1442

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	846/1442
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20828° N 050.54849° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 73.5 cm (l) × 31 cm (w) × 40.5 cm (h) Slab 2: 58 cm (l) × 30.5 cm (w) × 45 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of double limestone slabs. Damage on one side surface (A) and some erosion including surface flaking on the other (B). Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch at one end, and remains of broken unidentifiable raised decoration at the other end. Inscriptions on four surfaces. Not in original position. Previous Publication: Number S5, Kalus (1995: 136–137), and Number S7, Kalus (1995: 138–139). It is unclear why Kalus separately catalogued the two halves of one gravestone (cf. Kalus 1995: Figures 2 and 4), presumably because they had been separated when Kalus was completing his recording.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين. تلف في أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A)، وشيء من التآكل يشمل تقشّر السطح في الآخر (B). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط عند طرف، وبقايا زخرفة بارزة مكسورة غير مُعرَّفة عند الطرف الآخر. نقوش على أربعة أوجه. ليس في موضعه الأصلي. نُشر سابقاً: رقم S5، كالوس (١٩٩٥: ١٣٦–١٣٧)، ورقم S7، كالوس (١٩٩٥: ١٣٨–١٣٩). ولا يتّضح لماذا فهرس كالوس نصفَي شاهد واحد منفصلين (قارن كالوس ١٩٩٥: الشكلان ٢ و٤)، ويُفترض أنّهما كانا منفصلين حين أنجز كالوس توثيقه.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Verily, we have given you a manifest victory. That Allah may forgive you your sins of the past and the future.
And complete His favour on you, and guide you on the straight path. And that Allah may help you with strong help (48:1–3). Eden Paradise, which they shall enter and also those who acted righteously
From among their fathers and their wives and their offspring. And angels shall enter unto them from every gate saying, peace be upon you, for you preserved in patience.
Excellent indeed is the final home. (13:23–24). Their Lord gives them glad tidings of Mercy from Him, and His being pleased with them, and of Paradise for them wherein are everlasting delights. They will dwell therein forever. Verily, with Allah is a. great reward (9:21–22).

الوجه C

The late, the blessed Muhammad died …
… al-Din … bin Husayn bin Mubarak …

الوجه D

……. In the Monday night, ninth of Jumada
The first, year eight hundred and forty-six

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHA21

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20829° N 050.54851° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 96 cm (l) × 38 cm (w) × 53 cm (h) Slab 2: 63 cm (l) × 35 cm (w) × 47 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Gravestone formed of double limestone slabs. The smaller slab is very eroded and the raised decoration has been cut off and the area where it was subsequently eroded. The larger slab has the remains of raised decoration, likely formed of three elements, with one facetted cube identifiable. Traces of shallow carved rectangular panel design, probably a niche, on the upper surface (E) of the larger slab. Partially legible inscriptions on three surfaces of the smaller slab and two surfaces of the larger slab. Not in original position.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين. اللوح الأصغر شديد التآكل، وزخرفته البارزة مقطوعة، وموضعها تآكل بعد ذلك. في اللوح الأكبر بقايا زخرفة بارزة، ثلاثية العناصر على الأرجح، يُتبيَّن فيها مكعّب مضلّع واحد. آثار تصميم لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة، لعلّها محراب، على السطح العلوي (E) للّوح الأكبر. نقوش مقروءة جزئياً على ثلاثة أوجه من اللوح الأصغر ووجهين من اللوح الأكبر. ليس في موضعه الأصلي.

الوجه A

Very deteriorated. Unable to read..
The heavens …
… the most merciful.
This is the grave … Ahmad … al- Saʿid …

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHA22

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20851° N 050.54860° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 77.5 cm (l) × 37 cm (w) × 37 cm (h) Slab 2: 38.5 cm (l) × 37 cm (w) × 40 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Parts of a gravestone formed of double limestone slabs

أجزاء من شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHA23

ADE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20839° N 050.54814° E
المقاساتDimensions	63 cm (l) × 30.5 cm (w) × 34 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab from a double slab gravestone. Eroded. Traces of red paint/pigment on some of the lettering on one surface. Partially legible inscriptions on two surfaces and carved double interlocking circle decoration on the upper surface (E). Three element eroded raised decoration at one end formed of two facetted cubes each with a cupmark on top and a central rounded arch. Additional carved geometric patterns are on the external side surfaces and rear of the raised decorative blocks. Not in original position. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

لوح جيري واحد من شاهد مزدوج اللوح. متآكل. آثار صبغة حمراء على بعض الحروف في وجه واحد. نقوش مقروءة جزئياً على وجهين، وزخرفة من دائرتين متشابكتين منحوتة على السطح العلوي (E). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر متآكلة عند أحد الطرفين من مكعّبين مضلّعين في أعلى كلٍّ منهما نقرة كأسية، وقوس مستدير أوسط. وثمّة نقوش هندسية إضافية على الأوجه الجانبية الخارجية وعلى ظهر كتل الزخرفة البارزة. ليس في موضعه الأصلي. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful …
The inscription cannot be read.
This is the grave of the Late al-Sayyid … Naser …
al-Husayni …

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions. Surfaces D and E, KHA23

الوجه E (العلوي)

No inscriptions.لا نقوش.

KHA24

CDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20839° N 050.54811° E
المقاساتDimensions	74.5 cm (l) × 22 cm (w) × 40 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab from a double slab gravestone. Eroded and with areas of damage. Eroded unidentifiable raised decoration at one end. Traces of shallow carved recessed rectangular panel on the top surface (E), probably a niche. Inscriptions on three surfaces. Not in original position. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

لوح جيري واحد من شاهد مزدوج اللوح. متآكل وفيه مواضع من التلف. زخرفة بارزة متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند أحد الطرفين. آثار لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة على السطح العلوي (E)، لعلّها محراب. نقوش على ثلاثة أوجه. ليس في موضعه الأصلي. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه C

… Grave of the Inviolable lady …
The chaste lady … bint ʿAli bin al-Ha …
Muhammad bin Razzak, May Allah. have mercy on him

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions. Surfaces D and E, KHA24

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

KHA25

CDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.20839° N 050.54811° E
المقاساتDimensions	77 cm (l) × 24 cm (w) × 38 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab from a double slab gravestone. Eroded on the upper surface (E), on the upper side surfaces (A and B), and the bottom of one end surface (D). Inscriptions on three surfaces. Broken and eroded unidentifiable raised decoration at one end but with rectangular plinth present. Not in original position. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

لوح جيري واحد من شاهد مزدوج اللوح. متآكل في السطح العلوي (E)، وفي أعالي الوجهين الجانبيين (A وB)، وفي أسفل أحد الوجهين الطرفيين (D). نقوش على ثلاثة أوجه. زخرفة بارزة مكسورة متآكلة غير مُعرَّفة عند أحد الطرفين، مع بقاء القاعدة المستطيلة. ليس في موضعه الأصلي. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه C

No carving or inscriptions. Surfaces C and E, KHA25

الوجه D

Hasan Bin ʿAbd Allah.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

MAHMahooz2 شاهد

MAH1

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21069° N 050.58792° E
المقاساتDimensions	147 cm (l) × 30.5 cm (w) × 34 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Roughed out, cut to shape and left unfinished. Eroded rectangular block at one end for raised decoration and stump of similar block at the other end. Saw marks visible on one side

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. خُشِّن وقُطع على الشكل وتُرك غير مكتمل. كتلة مستطيلة متآكلة عند أحد الطرفين للزخرفة البارزة، وجذل كتلة مماثلة عند الطرف الآخر. آثار المنشار ظاهرة على أحد الجانبين.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

MAH2

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21042° N 050.58794° E
المقاساتDimensions	155.5 cm (l) × 36.5 cm (w) × 35 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone housed inside a shrine within a mosque. The top surface and upper part of the side surfaces are rendered in cement covering a significant portion of the inscriptions. The gravestone is set within a modern aluminium and wooden cover with wooden grilles allowing a partial view of the gravestone within

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد محفوظ داخل مزار في مسجد. السطح العلوي وأعالي الأوجه الجانبية مكسوّة بالإسمنت الذي يغطّي قدراً كبيراً من النقوش. الشاهد موضوع داخل غطاء حديث من الألمنيوم والخشب بمشبّكات خشبية تتيح رؤية جزئية للشاهد في داخله.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

MALMalkiya1 شاهد

MAL1

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.09651° N 050.48169° E
المقاساتDimensions	181 cm (l) × 50 cm (w) × 48 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Raised decoration at both ends formed of double square pillars with rounded tops

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. زخرفة بارزة عند الطرفين من دعامتين مربّعتين مزدوجتين مستديرتَي الأعلى.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

MAQAl Maqsha3 شاهد

MAQ1

ABCD

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22138° N 050.51798° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 63 cm (l) × 20.5 cm (w) × 40 cm (h) Slab 2: 73 cm (l) × 20 cm (w) × 46 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Gravestone formed of double solid limestone slabs. Some erosion and, unusually, patches of green moss/algae on the upper surface indicating water exposure. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch at each end, but missing a section of the raised decoration and surface below at one end. The intact end has an unclear carved design on the rear of the central rounded arch. Inscriptions on three surfaces.

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين مصمتين. شيء من التآكل، وعلى غير المعتاد رقع من الطحالب الخضراء في السطح العلوي تدلّ على تعرّضه للماء. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط عند كلّ طرف، مع فقدان جزء من الزخرفة والسطح الذي تحتها عند أحد الطرفين. وفي الطرف السليم تصميم منحوت غير واضح على ظهر القوس المستدير الأوسط. نقوش على ثلاثة أوجه.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Verily, those who say: Our Lord is Allah, …
… Fear not nor grieve, but receive the glad tidings … (41:30)

الوجه B

… Hereafter … therein …
… paradise …

الوجه C

Preserving them …
The good people … the late lady … the blessed …
… the late …

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions. Surfaces D and E, MAQ1
No carving or inscriptions.

MAQ2

BCDE

1112/1701

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1112/1701
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22144° N 050.51812° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 69 cm (l) × 24.5 cm (w) × 34.5 cm (h) Slab 2: 85 cm (l) × 24.5 cm (w) × 31 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	N-S

Gravestone formed of double limestone slabs. Very well carved with inscriptions on five surfaces but only partially legible on three surfaces, and illegible on one surface. Severely damaged in places with the raised decoration cut off but with the rectangular plinth still present at each end and major patches of erosion on one side surface (A).

شاهد مكوّن من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين. جيّد النحت جدّاً بنقوش على خمسة أوجه، غير أنّها مقروءة جزئياً في ثلاثة أوجه وغير مقروءة في وجه واحد. متضرّر ضرراً بالغاً في مواضع منه، الزخرفة البارزة مقطوعة مع بقاء القاعدة المستطيلة عند كلّ طرف، ورقع كبيرة من التآكل في أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A).

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Him. To Him belongs whatever is in Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything
Of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, sion in religion. Verily, the Right Path path. Whoever disbelieves in al-Tahas become distinct from the wrong ghut and believes in Allah, and then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower (2:255–256).

الوجه C

… Allah … half of the great month of Ramadan.
one thousand, one hundred twelve..

الوجه D

Very deteriorated. Unable to read.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by al-Sayyid ʿAlawi bin al- Sayyid Naser al-Asbaʿi, God bless them, 1121.
Reading three parts of the Book of God the Very High … tributes on the grave of the noble lady with a total of one third of the palms.
Which are known as girl’s part, which) ( is located at Sar area in al-Bahrayn, after ploughing … and cultivating it … until God inherits the earth.
… The lowest Muhammad bin Saʿid..
bin Muhammad bin ʿAbd Allah al- Muqabi, God bless all of them.

MAQ3

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22166° N 050.51788° E
المقاساتDimensions	72.5 cm (l) × 21 cm (w) × 43 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	N-S

Single hollow limestone slab from a double slab gravestone. Badly eroded on one side surface (B) where exposed above the ground surface. Poorly carved three element raised decoration formed of three rounded rectangular blocks. Inscriptions on two surfaces, but only one is partially legible. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

لوح جيري واحد مجوَّف من شاهد مزدوج اللوح. متآكل تآكلاً شديداً في أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (B) حيث كان مكشوفاً فوق سطح الأرض. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر رديئة النحت من ثلاث كتل مستطيلة مستديرة. نقوش على وجهين، أحدهما فقط مقروء جزئياً. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

MUSBahrain National Museum12 شاهد

MUS1

ADE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	143 cm (l) × 34 cm (w) × 60 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab gravestone in the store at Bahrain National Museum. Partly damaged unusual thin and high raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch at one end, broken off at the other end. Shallow carved rectangular panel design on upper surface (E), probably a niche. Serious erosion in places. Inscriptions on four surfaces of which one is illegible and two partially legible.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد في مخزن متحف البحرين الوطني. زخرفة بارزة غير معتادة رفيعة وعالية متضرّرة جزئياً من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط عند طرف، ومكسورة عند الطرف الآخر. تصميم لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة على السطح العلوي (E)، لعلّه محراب. تآكل بالغ في مواضع منه. نقوش على أربعة أوجه، واحد منها غير مقروء واثنان مقروءان جزئياً.

الوجه A

Can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the. heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them (2:255).
And He is the Most High, the Most Great. God’s blessings upon Muhammad al-Mustafa, God’s blessings upon ʿAli …, God blessings upon al-Hasan, God blessings upon al-Husayn, God’s blessings upon …
God’s blessings upon al-Jawad … God’s blessings upon al-Hasan al-ʿAskari, God’s blessings upon al-Hujjah al-Qa⁠ʾim al-Mahdi bin al-Hasan … Imams … al-Jawad … upon all of them.
… al-Rashid …

الوجه D

Very deteriorated. Unable to read.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

MUS2

ACDE

1014/1605

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1014/1605
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	149.5 cm (l) × 35.5 cm (w) × 54 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab gravestone. Originally from the Al-Khamis Mosque cemetery. When recorded it was in the store at the Bahrain National Museum, and was subsequently transferred to public display in the gallery at the Al-Khamis Mosque Visitor Centre. Three element raised decoration at both ends, formed of a central point and two triangles at one end and a central point and slightly rounded rectangle with the third element broken off at the opposite end. Inscriptions on four surfaces. Previous Publication: Number 45, Kalus (1990: 81). The original location, where it is shown in-situ (cf. ibid: Pl. LXIV) is given as a small cemetery to the right of the Karbabad road.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. أصله من مقبرة مسجد الخميس. كان وقت التوثيق في مخزن متحف البحرين الوطني، ثمّ نُقل إلى العرض العامّ في قاعة مركز زوّار مسجد الخميس. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند الطرفين: رأس أوسط ومثلّثان عند طرف، ورأس أوسط ومستطيل مستدير قليلاً مع انكسار العنصر الثالث عند الطرف المقابل. نقوش على أربعة أوجه. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ٤٥، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٨١). الموضع الأصلي، حيث يظهر في مكانه (قارن المصدر نفسه: لوحة LXIV)، مذكور بأنّه مقبرة صغيرة على يمين طريق كرباباد.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who
Is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows and will happen to them in the what happens to them in this world, Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth (2:255)..
And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. God’s blessings upon Muhammad al-Mustafa, God’s blessings upon ʿAli al-Murtada, Fatimah al-Zahra⁠ʾ, al- Hasan, al-Husayn, ʿAli, Muhammad, Jaʿfar
Musa, ʿAli, Muhammad, ʿAli, al-Hasan al-ʿAskari and al-Khalaf al-Hujjah al-Qa⁠ʾim Muhammad bin al-Hasan. God’s blessings and peace upon all of them.

الوجه C

… The one who shows the wonders, he will assist you during crisises.
Every grief and anxiety will go by the blessing of Muhammad and by loving ʿAli.
He died in thirteenth of Muharram, year 1014.

الوجه D

This is grave of the blessed late, the Innocent (possibly Wardi Abak)
Brother of the greatest and generous …

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

MUS3

854/1450

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	854/1450
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	66 cm (l) × 30 cm (w) × 45 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab from a double slab gravestone in the store at Bahrain National Museum. Impact damage on one side surface (A), and significant erosion in places. Inscriptions on two surfaces. Previous Publication: Number 44, Kalus (1990: 80). The original location is given as found re-employed in Qalaʿat al-Bahrain (Bahrain Fort) presumably as spolia in construction. This would possibly explain the unusual impact damage perhaps sustained during its removal.

لوح جيري واحد من شاهد مزدوج اللوح، في مخزن متحف البحرين الوطني. تلف ارتطامي في أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A)، وتآكل كبير في مواضع منه. نقوش على وجهين. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ٤٤، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٨٠). الموضع الأصلي مذكور بأنّه وُجد معاد الاستعمال في قلعة البحرين، ويُفترض أنّه استُعمل حجارةَ بناءٍ منقولة. وهذا قد يفسّر التلف الارتطامي غير المعتاد الذي لعلّه لحقه أثناء انتزاعه.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

MUS4

ACDE

985/1577

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	985/1577
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	150 cm (l) × 33.5 cm (w) × 64 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab gravestone. When recorded it was in the store at the Bahrain National Museum, and it was subsequently transferred to public display in the gallery at the Al-Khamis Mosque Visitor Centre. Three element raised decoration at both ends formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth. At one end the raised decoration is damaged with one of the three elements partially broken off. Shallow carved pointed niche design on the upper surface (E). Inscriptions on five surfaces. Previous Publication: Number S13, Kalus (1990: 53). Original location given as in a palm garden near Zallaq (ibid: 142).

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. كان وقت التوثيق في مخزن متحف البحرين الوطني، ثمّ نُقل إلى العرض العامّ في قاعة مركز زوّار مسجد الخميس. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر عند الطرفين من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة. وعند أحد الطرفين الزخرفة البارزة متضرّرة وقد انكسر جزء من أحد عناصرها الثلاثة. محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). نقوش على خمسة أوجه. نُشر سابقاً: رقم S13، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٥٣). الموضع الأصلي مذكور بأنّه بستان نخيل قرب الزلّاق (المصدر نفسه: ١٤٢).

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth.
Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat. extends over the heavens and the earth (2:255).
Endowments of the late, Shaikh Husayn Bin Hurz al-Din for Imam al-Qa⁠ʾim … thirty-four shares, one
From the garden of bin al-Zayid (pos-) sibly al-Din) for the reader at Hilal mosque, (possibly Shuʿayb) southern garden of al-Kharajat … proceeds …) part of …

الوجه C

Grave … ʿAbd Allah (ʿAbd al-Samad) who died on tenth of Muharram (al-Husayn).
Year nine hundred and eighty-five …

الوجه D

… Month of Rabiʿ, who was born in 1007 (possibly 1017).

الوجه E (العلوي)

… And reading for a quarter of income of … Garden.
Ibrahim bin Sinan after planting …
… has got the happiness …
bin (bint) Saʿd … ***)
Written by Masʿud, and engraved by
al-Sayyid Hashim.

MUS5

ACDE

1100/1689

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1100/1689
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	131 cm (l) × 33 cm (w) × 49 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab gravestone in the store at Bahrain National Museum. Poorly carved three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch at each end. Erosion to upper surface (E) and parts of both the side surfaces (A and B). Partially legible inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد في مخزن متحف البحرين الوطني. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر رديئة النحت من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط عند كلّ طرف. تآكل في السطح العلوي (E) وفي أجزاء من الوجهين الجانبيين (A وB). نقوش مقروءة جزئياً على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him. except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass. cept that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has path. Whoever disbelieves in al- Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All- Knower (2:255–256).
… whose doors will be opened for them. … will recline, therein … for fruits in abundance and drinks. And beside them will be chaste females restraining their glances and of equal ages. This is what you are promised … (38:50–53).
… Therein forever. Verily, with Allah. is a great reward (9:22). The angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but receive the glad tidings of the paradise which you have been promised (41:30).
Bequeathed for reading on … the cherished, six … half of palm garden … the western … and half on …

الوجه C

This is a grave of the one who went to the highest place
Of paradise, Haji Najm bin ʿAli bin (Hiz) God forgive him.

الوجه D

… Muharram al-Haram, complete reading … Muhammad. ()
… one thousand and one hundred …

الوجه E (العلوي)

… Hashim ʿAli al-Husayni …

MUS6

ADE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	142 cm (l) × 39.5 cm (w) × 39 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab gravestone. Originally from the Al-Khamis Mosque cemetery. When recorded it was in the store at the Bahrain National Museum, and it was subsequently transferred to public display in the gallery at the Al-Khamis Mosque Visitor Centre. Well carved. Some unusual damage on the top surface (E) that appears to have been made with a chisel and the raised decoration has been cleanly cut off at both ends. Circular hole drilled in one side surface (A), and damage to both end surfaces (C and D). Elaborate shallow carved pointed niche design with a double border and a flower or abstract symbol in the point of the niche on the upper surface (E). Inscriptions on five surfaces. Previous Publication: Number 16, Kalus (1990: 45)

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. أصله من مقبرة مسجد الخميس. كان وقت التوثيق في مخزن متحف البحرين الوطني، ثمّ نُقل إلى العرض العامّ في قاعة مركز زوّار مسجد الخميس. جيّد النحت. تلف غير معتاد في السطح العلوي (E) يبدو أنّه أُحدث بإزميل، والزخرفة البارزة قُطعت قطعاً نظيفاً عند الطرفين. ثقب دائري محفور في أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A)، وتلف في الوجهين الطرفيين (C وD). محراب مدبّب غائر ضحل متقن بإطار مزدوج، وفي رأس المحراب زهرة أو رمز تجريدي على السطح العلوي (E). نقوش على خمسة أوجه. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ١٦، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٤٥).

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede. with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter.
And they will never compass. Anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower (2:255–256).
Eden Paradise, whose doors will be opened for them. Therein they will recline, therein they will call for fruits in abundance and drinks. And beside them will be chaste females restraining their glances and of equal ages them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but receive the glad tidings of the paradise which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and are in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your
And therein you shall have all for which you ask. An entertainment from the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (41:30–32). Their Lord gives them glad tidings of Mercy from Him, and His being pleased, and of Gardens for them wherein are everlasting delights. They will dwell therein forever. Verily, with Allah is a great reward (9:21–22).. Eden Paradise, which they shall enter and those who acted righteously from among their fathers, and their wives, and their offspring. And angels shall. enter unto them every gate (13:23). God Almighty has spoken the truth..
This is … the blessed …
The one who has got God’s mercy and approval, al-Sayyid Sulayman bin al- Sayyid Naser bin Sulayman.

الوجه D

Died on Thursday, twelfth of Rabiʿ alawwal …

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by … al-Sayyid Hashim bin al-Sayyid ʿAli.
Oh grave, you have a great glory … *** incomparable.
And you have a highness and pride *** more than the stars with Sulayman …
Written by Ahmad bin Faraj al-M …

MUS7

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	Panel 1: 161 cm (l) × 22 cm (w) Panel 2: 164.5 cm (l) × 21 cm (w)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Two gypsum panels on display in the Islamic Gallery at the Bahrain National Museum (Figures 2.411 and 2.412). These are described in the gallery text panel as “dating from the 13th and 13th centuries, were found in the ruins of a Dilmun temple near Sar village. They bear Arabic inscriptions and floral decorations which had been carved in wood and pressed into the wet plaster, section by sections. The inscriptions on one were inverted”. Previous Publication: Number 40, Kalus (1990: 75–76)

لوحان جبسيان معروضان في القاعة الإسلامية بمتحف البحرين الوطني (الشكلان ٢٫٤١١ و٢٫٤١٢). ويصفهما نصّ القاعة بأنّهما يرجعان إلى القرن الثالث عشر، وقد وُجدا في أطلال معبد دلموني قرب قرية سار. ويحملان نقوشاً عربية وزخارف نباتية نُحتت في الخشب وضُغطت في الجصّ الرطب قطاعاً قطاعاً. وكانت نقوش أحدهما مقلوبة. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ٤٠، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٧٥–٧٦).

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

MUS8

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	Double slabs measured as single slab. 134.5 cm (l) × 27.5 cm (w) × 52 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Double limestone slab gravestone on display in the Islamic Gallery at the Bahrain National Museum. Roughed out unfinished gravestone which has been cut to size but left decoratively uncarved

شاهد قبر من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين معروض في القاعة الإسلامية بمتحف البحرين الوطني. شاهد مخشَّن غير مكتمل، قُطع على المقاس وتُرك بلا نحت زخرفي.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

MUS9

ACDE

1106/1695

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1106/1695
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	136.5 cm (l) × 32 cm (w) × 50.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab gravestone on display in the Islamic Gallery at the Bahrain National Museum. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central thin rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at each end. Shallow carved rounded niche design on upper surface (E). Some localised impact damage on sides of the upper surface (E), and on one side surface (B). Inscriptions on five surfaces. Previous Publication: Number 14, Kalus (1990: 39). The original location is given as the caretaker’s garden, cemetery, Suq al-Khamis.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد معروض في القاعة الإسلامية بمتحف البحرين الوطني. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير رفيع أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند كلّ طرف. محراب مستدير غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). تلف ارتطامي موضعي في جانبَي السطح العلوي (E)، وفي أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (B). نقوش على خمسة أوجه. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ١٤، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٣٩). الموضع الأصلي مذكور بأنّه بستان القيّم في مقبرة سوق الخميس.

الوجه A

Compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the. earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most. trustworthy handhold that will never break. Knower (2:255–256). Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend out of what We have bestowed on them. No person they used to do (32:16–17). The angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but receive the glad tidings of the paradise
Which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and are in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your inner-selves desire, and therein you shall have all for which you ask. An entertainment from the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (41:30–32). God Almighty has spoken the truth. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

الوجه C

This is the grave of the late, al-Hajj ʿAli bin the late
Naser bin Iskandar. His death was on second of Jumada al-awwal, year 1106..1106

الوجه D

Reading one part of the Book of God every day, … for twenty mann … dates.
From half of Alkhaieb … crops … located …

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by al-Sayyid ʿAlawi bin al- Sayyid Naser.
Oh grave, the paradise guard gave you the mercy because you embedded a faithful person who was praying all the time.
You are a part of paradise because *** you embedded a good man his name is ʿAli.
Written by ʿAli bin Abdullah … al-Bahrani.

MUS10

CDE

1102/1691

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1102/1691
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	134 cm (l) × 30.5 cm (w) × 36 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab gravestone on display in the Islamic Gallery at the Bahrain National Museum. Some erosion. Raised decoration cut off at each end. Inscriptions on five surfaces. Previous Publication: Number 15, Kalus (1990: 42). Number 14, Kalus (1990: 39). The original location is given as the caretaker’s garden, cemetery, Suq al-Khamis.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد معروض في القاعة الإسلامية بمتحف البحرين الوطني. شيء من التآكل. الزخرفة البارزة مقطوعة عند كلّ طرف. نقوش على خمسة أوجه. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ١٥، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٤٢). رقم ١٤، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٣٩). الموضع الأصلي مذكور بأنّه بستان القيّم في مقبرة سوق الخميس.

الوجه C

… in Rajab in the year of one thousand, one hundred and two, the Inviolable lady, Fa … bint, died.
Alsheikh … this grave … who read everyday …

الوجه D

… part of … its fruits … twenty maan ….
Basanj at Awal, income of … Alsahlan of Sakyah.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by Sayed Hashem bin Sayed Naser Alhussaini Albahrani.
Written by the one who stands in need of God Ali bin Abdullah bin ʿAbd al-Samad Alosbai. May Allah forgive them.

MUS11

ACDE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	153 cm (l) × 18.5 cm (w) × 28 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Double limestone slab gravestone in the store at Bahrain National Museum. Badly damaged in places, particularly on the upper surface (E). Traces of red paint/pigment on some of the lettering on three surfaces. Inscriptions on three surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين في مخزن متحف البحرين الوطني. متضرّر ضرراً شديداً في مواضع منه، ولا سيّما في السطح العلوي (E). آثار صبغة حمراء على بعض الحروف في ثلاثة أوجه. نقوش على ثلاثة أوجه.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful … that Allah may forgive you your sins of the past and the future, and complete His Favour on you, and …
the straight path. And that Allah may help you with strong help … (48:2–3). The angels … upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but receive the glad tidings of the paradise
Which you have been promised (41:31–32).
We have been your friends in the life of this world and are in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your inner-selves desire, and therein you shall have all for which you ask. An entertainment from the Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Their Lord gives them glad tidings of Mercy from Him, and His being pleased, and of Gardens for them wherein are everlasting delights. They will dwell therein forever. Verily, with Allah is a great reward. Amin (9:21–22).

الوجه C

Grave of the Late, the Savant Shaikh
Salman bin Husayn bin Majid

الوجه D

Very deteriorated. Unable to read.

الوجه E (العلوي)

No carving or inscriptions.

MUS12

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	NA
المقاساتDimensions	76 cm (l) × 48 cm (h) × 21 cm (w)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Single limestone slab from a double slab gravestone in the store at Bahrain National Museum. Eroded on one end surface (D), on one side surface (A), and on top surface (E). Possibly defaced on one side surface (B), which also has a circular hole drilled into it. Unusual raised decoration formed of a solid rectangular block that slopes downward to the upper surface (E). Partially legible inscription on one surface and illegible inscription on another.

لوح جيري واحد من شاهد مزدوج اللوح، في مخزن متحف البحرين الوطني. متآكل في أحد الوجهين الطرفيين (D)، وفي أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A)، وفي السطح العلوي (E). لعلّه شُوّه عمداً في أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (B)، وفيه أيضاً ثقب دائري محفور. زخرفة بارزة غير معتادة من كتلة مستطيلة مصمتة تنحدر نزولاً إلى السطح العلوي (E). نقش مقروء جزئياً على وجه، ونقش غير مقروء على آخر.

الوجه D

No carving or inscriptions.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Very deteriorated. Unable to read.

NOANoaim/Naim4 شاهد

NOA1

ABDE

1076/1665

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1076/1665
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22611° N 050.56799° E
المقاساتDimensions	167 cm (l) × 30 cm (w) × 40 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central thin rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at each end. Badly eroded on the top surface (E), on one side surface (A), and on one set of raised decoration. Traces of shallow carved rectangular panel design, probably a niche, on the top surface (E). Inscriptions on five surfaces. Previous Publication: Number 43, Kalus (1990: 78)

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير رفيع أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند كلّ طرف. متآكل تآكلاً شديداً في السطح العلوي (E)، وفي أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A)، وفي إحدى مجموعتَي الزخرفة البارزة. آثار تصميم لوحة مستطيلة غائرة ضحلة، لعلّها محراب، على السطح العلوي (E). نقوش على خمسة أوجه. نُشر سابقاً: رقم ٤٣، كالوس (١٩٩٠: ٧٨).

الوجه A

Whose doors … Therein they will recline, therein they will call for fruits side them will be chaste females restraining their glances and of equal ages. This is what you are promised for the day of Reckoning. Verily, this is our provision which will never finish (38:50–54). God Almighty and his Prophet have spoken the truth. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge.
Except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower (2:255–256).
Reading parts of the Book of God the Powerful … Shaikh.
Good dates from crops of the palms which is known as (possibly Barbaghi al-ʿAyn) at Buqwah area.

الوجه D

The blessed late, al-Hajj Naser bin al- Hajj ʿAbd al-Husayn, God bless them.
Died in the eighth of Jumada al-thani, year one thousand and seventy-six.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Written by the one who stands in need of the Only Owner of the Day of Reckoning … ʾAli bin Husayn bin Zayn al-Din. God bless them.
Engraved by al-Sayyid Hashim bin al- Sayyid Naser …

NOA2

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22606° N 050.56804° E
المقاساتDimensions	152.5 cm (l) × 28.5 cm (w) × 63 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Badly eroded in various areas and cracked and with a section missing on one side surface (B). Eroded three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at each end. Partially legible inscriptions on two surfaces and illegible inscriptions on the other three surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. متآكل تآكلاً شديداً في مواضع شتّى، ومتشقّق وفيه جزء مفقود من أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (B). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر متآكلة من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند كلّ طرف. نقوش مقروءة جزئياً على وجهين، ونقوش غير مقروءة على الأوجه الثلاثة الأخرى.

الوجه D

Very deteriorated. Unable to read.
Very deteriorated. Unable to read.

NOA3

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22623° N 050.56821° E
المقاساتDimensions	139.5 cm (l) × 28.5 cm (w) × 52 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Unfinished. The gravestone has been cut to size and the three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central thin rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at each end has been finished, albeit crudely

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. غير مكتمل. قُطع الشاهد على المقاس، وأُنجزت الزخرفة البارزة الثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير رفيع أوسط على قاعدة مستطيلة عند كلّ طرف، وإن كان الإنجاز خشناً.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

2.446 Fifteen rows of four shallow cup marks, likely Awari/Mancala type game, NOA3

NOA4

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.22652° N 050.56711° E
المقاساتDimensions	56 cm (l) × 28 cm (w) × 45 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NA

Broken fragment from either a single or double limestone slab gravestone. Eroded on the inscribed surface. Hollow

كِسرة مكسورة من شاهد قبر جيري مفرد أو مزدوج اللوح. متآكل في الوجه المنقوش. مجوَّف.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

QADAl-Qadem4 شاهد

QAD1

BCD

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21629° N 050.51596° E
المقاساتDimensions	132 cm (l) × 25.5 cm (w) × 47 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. The carver has had to compensate for a fault formed of an indentation in the stone on one side surface (A). Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central rounded arch at each end. Inscriptions on five surfaces. The gravestone was covered with a recently made wooden green painted slatted canopy. Excavated to expose whole gravestone.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. اضطرّ النقّاش إلى تدارك عيب في الحجر على هيئة تجويف في أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A). زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط عند كلّ طرف. نقوش على خمسة أوجه. كان الشاهد مغطّى بمظلّة خشبية مشرَّحة مطلية بالأخضر حديثة الصنع. نُقِّب عنه لكشف الشاهد كاملاً.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Verily, your protector is none other than Allah, His Messenger, and the believers, those who establish regular prayers and regular charity, and they
And whosoever takes Allah, His Mesbow down humbly. senger, and the believers, it is the fellowship of Allah that must certainly. triumph (5:55–56).

الوجه C

It is the grave of Shaikh ʿAli
bin ʿAbd Allah al-Awali …

الوجه D

The praise …
And the reading at … two parts, al- Fatiha and al-Ikhlas for three times.
And one part for him with his parents and his son Ibrahim and his wives.
Whatsoever is on the earth will perish. And the Face of your Lord full of Majesty and Honour will remain. forever (55:26–27). Peace be on you, a Word from the Lord, Most Merciful (36:58).
This shrine embedded … it is surrounded with real knowledge.
… his grave is as wide as the width of *** earths and skies.

QAD2

ADE

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21631° N 050.51609° E
المقاساتDimensions	142.5 cm (l) × 38 cm (w) × (height not measurable)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Double limestone slab gravestone. An active shrine is centred around this gravestone which is sunk into the floor, cemented in place, and surrounded with green carpet. A moveable aluminium canopy has been placed over the gravestone. Coins (predominantly of 100 fils denomination), small glass perfume bottles, one dinar notes, stems of green or dried fragrant herbs (mashmoom, Basil, Ocimum basilcum) had been put through the canopy grille as offerings

شاهد قبر من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين. يقوم حول هذا الشاهد مزار عامر، وهو مغروس في الأرضية مثبَّت بالإسمنت ومحاط بسجّاد أخضر. وُضعت فوق الشاهد مظلّة ألمنيوم قابلة للنقل. وقد أُدخلت عبر مشبَّك المظلّة نذورٌ: نقود (أغلبها فئة مئة فلس)، وقوارير عطر زجاجية صغيرة، وأوراق نقدية من فئة دينار، وأعواد أعشاب عطرية خضراء أو مجفّفة (مشموم، ريحان).

الوجه A

Covered with cement and cannot be read.
Covered with cement and cannot be read.
I put my trust in Allah..
Written by Hasan bin ʿAli..
Abd Muhammad bin Jaʿfar.

الوجه D

This is the grave of the chaste, the en-. lightened mind.
The one who has got paradise.
Shaikh ʿAli bin Sulayman..

الوجه E (العلوي)

May the blessing of Allah be upon Muhammad al-Mustafa, ʿAli al- Murtada, Fatimah al-Zahra⁠ʾ, Khadija al-Kubra, al-Hasan al-Zaki, al-Husayn al-Shahid, ʿAli, Muhammad, Jaʿfar al- Sadiq, Musa al-Kadhim, Ali al-Rida, Muhammad al-Jawad, ʿAli al-Hadi, al-Hasan al-ʿAskari, and al-Khalaf al- Hujjah al-Qa⁠ʾim al-Mahdi. May the blessing of Allah be upon all of them. 23 Sh. Abd al-Rauf al-Bahrani (Sh. AB) Location: Mosque in Jidhafs village

Sh. AB1

ABD

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21703° N 050.53794° E
المقاساتDimensions	156 cm (l) × 33.5 cm (w) × 35 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW to SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Eroded and with patches of cement on it. Partially buried in cement under a metal and glass canopy inside a shrine. Approximately 70 cm below current ground level suggesting it is in its original position

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. متآكل وعليه رقع من الإسمنت. مدفون جزئياً في الإسمنت تحت مظلّة من المعدن والزجاج داخل مزار. على عمق نحو ٧٠ سم تحت مستوى الأرض الحالي، ممّا يرجّح أنّه في موضعه الأصلي.

الوجه A

Difficult to read.

الوجه B

Difficult to read.

الوجه D

Difficult to read.
Written by … Sheikh … Lutf Allah Lut Allah Bin Ali Lut Allah Aljedhafsi Albahrani, May Allah bless them.
Engraved by … Ali Bin … Surface E, Sh. AB1 24 Sh. Latfulla (Sh. LA) Location: Mosque in Jidhafs village

Sh. LA1

ABDE

1150/1738

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1150/1738
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21703° N 050.53794° E
المقاساتDimensions	143 cm (l) × 32 cm (w) × 30.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW to SE

Single limestone slab gravestone. Partly covered in modern green mosaic tiles. Flat rectangular slab, probably the plinth from which the raised decoration was removed, at each end. Accessible inscriptions only on two surfaces, and one of these (A) was only partially photographable

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد. مغطّى جزئياً بفسيفساء خضراء حديثة. لوح مستطيل مسطّح عند كلّ طرف، لعلّه القاعدة التي أُزيلت عنها الزخرفة البارزة. لا نقوش يمكن الوصول إليها إلا على وجهين، وأحدهما (A) لم يمكن تصويره إلا جزئياً.

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede. with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter.
And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower (2:255–256).

الوجه B

Difficult to read.
reading part of the Holy Quran every day, with a fare of 2 baskets of palm dates … from the crop of palm garden … known as … Mani land in al-Bahrayn, 1150.

الوجه D

Difficult to read.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Difficult to read.

2.461 Partial view of surface A, Sh. LA1

SYASayed Yahya Al Husseini1 شاهد

SYA1

ADE

1093/1682

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1093/1682
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.21202° N 050.54042° E
المقاساتDimensions	151 cm (l) × 33.5 cm (w) × 54 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone inside a small modern domed shrine with a tiled interior. Some erosion and small patches of cement adhering to the surface. Three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and central rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at each end. Eroded traces of shallow carved pointed niche design on the upper surface (E). Legible inscriptions on five surfaces, three of which were impossible to photograph (A, C, D), as although they could be read, they could not be accessed for adequate photography because of the position of the gravestone within the small shrine space

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد داخل مزار صغير حديث مقبَّب مكسوّ الداخل بالبلاط. شيء من التآكل ورقع صغيرة من الإسمنت الملتصق بالسطح. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند كلّ طرف. آثار متآكلة لمحراب مدبّب غائر ضحل على السطح العلوي (E). نقوش مقروءة على خمسة أوجه، ثلاثة منها تعذّر تصويرها (A وC وD)، إذ أمكن قراءتها ولم يمكن الوصول إليها لتصوير كافٍ بسبب موضع الشاهد في حيّز المزار الضيّق.

الوجه A

The angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but receive the glad tidings of the paradise which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and are in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your inner-selves desire, and therein you shall have all for which you ask..
An entertainment from the Oft-. Forgiving, Most Merciful (41:30–32). Whose doors will be opened for them. Therein they will recline, therein they will call for fruits in abundance and drinks. And beside them will be chaste females restraining their glances and of equal ages. This is what you are promised for the day of Reckoning. Verily, this is our provision which will never finish (38:50–54).
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And.. He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255). Allah and His Prophet have spoken the truth.
Reading two parts … from dates … at Sanj in al-Bahrayn, from crop of
Al-Ghara … palms which is located …. al-Bahrayn.

الوجه D

This is the grave of the late, al-Sayyid Yahya Bin al-Sayyid Muhammad.
Abu Shabanah al-Husayni. May Allah forgive them and the other believers.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by al-Sayyid Salih bin al- Sayyid Hashim. May Allah forgive them.
O grave have a look on al-Husayni Yahya, the master of both the chandelier and the dust.
… his body … paradise …
… written by ʿAli bin Husayn, May ( Allah forgive them, in 1093.

TUBTubli4 شاهد

TUB1

BDE

1095/1684

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1095/1684
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.18412° N 050.54807° E
المقاساتDimensions	140 cm (l) × 26 cm (w) × 54.5 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone in Tubli cemetery. Well-carved three element raised decoration formed of two facetted cubes and a central thin rounded arch all set on a rectangular plinth at each end. Delineated central uncarved rectangular panel on the top surface (E) which, unusually, is not a niche. Several small circular holes drilled in one side surface (A), and some surface pitting in places. Inscriptions on five surfaces.

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد في مقبرة توبلي. زخرفة بارزة ثلاثية العناصر جيّدة النحت من مكعّبين مضلّعين وقوس مستدير رفيع أوسط، قائمة كلّها على قاعدة مستطيلة عند كلّ طرف. لوحة مستطيلة وسطى محدَّدة غير منقوشة على السطح العلوي (E)، وهي على غير المعتاد ليست محراباً. عدّة ثقوب دائرية صغيرة محفورة في أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (A)، وشيء من التنقّر السطحي في مواضع. نقوش على خمسة أوجه.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Him. To Him belongs whatever is in Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede. with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never
Compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth.
And He feels no fatigue in guarding. and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great (2:255). God Almighty has spoken the truth. And His Messenger, the Generous Prophet proclaimed the message. And Ali, the commander of the faithful has spoken the truth.
Reading one part for twenty mann, al-Bahrayn’s weight … n … from the crop of al-Ghara palms.
… in al-Kharajat which is located at Katkan in al-Bahrayn.

الوجه D

This grave of the noble, al-Sayyid Hasan bin al-Sayyid ʿAli bin al-Sayyid Muhammad.
Al-Qaruni al-Husayni who died seventh of Rajab, one thousand and ninety-five.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by al-Sayyid Naser bin al- Sayyid Hashim al-Husayni. May Allah forgive them.
This is a grave of prophet Muhammad’s son, who is a viscount and saint.
He was a good person and had a face as beautiful as his name Abu al-Husayn Hasan al-Husayni.
Written by Husayn bin ʿAli bin Zayn al-Din. May Allah forgive them.

TUB2

الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.18419° N 050.54807° E
المقاساتDimensions	Slab 1: 60 cm (l) × 31 cm (w) × 33.5 cm (h) Slab 2: 71 cm (l) × 35 cm (w) × 37 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Double limestone slab gravestone in Tubli village cemetery. Cemented onto a modern concrete block base. Unfinished, mis-shapen and badly cut to size with saw and chisel marks evident

شاهد قبر من لوحين جيريين مزدوجين في مقبرة قرية توبلي. مثبَّت بالإسمنت على قاعدة حديثة من الكتل الخرسانية. غير مكتمل، مشوَّه الشكل، رديء القطع على المقاس، وعليه آثار منشار وإزميل ظاهرة.

لا نقوش على هذا الشاهد. No inscriptions.

TUB3

ACE

1008/1599

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1008/1599
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.18507° N 050.54725° E
المقاساتDimensions	120 cm (l) × 27 cm (w) × 33 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NW-SE

Single limestone slab gravestone set on a plaster slab on top of a marble plinth under a glass case in the Sheikh Hashem El Tublah mosque. Some erosion, surface pitting, and also a small rectangular cut mark on one side surface (B). Raised decoration broken or cut off at both ends. Inscriptions on five surfaces. Previous Publication: Number S14, Kalus (1995: 147–148). Original location described as unknown but at the time of recording it was in the courtyard of a house in the village (ibid: 147).

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد موضوع على لوح جصّي فوق قاعدة رخامية داخل صندوق زجاجي في مسجد الشيخ هاشم التوبلاني. شيء من التآكل والتنقّر السطحي، وأثر قطع مستطيل صغير في أحد الوجهين الجانبيين (B). الزخرفة البارزة مكسورة أو مقطوعة عند الطرفين. نقوش على خمسة أوجه. نُشر سابقاً: رقم S14، كالوس (١٩٩٥: ١٤٧–١٤٨). الموضع الأصلي موصوف بأنّه مجهول، وكان وقت التوثيق في فناء بيت في القرية (المصدر نفسه: ١٤٧).

الوجه A

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth.
Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills.
His Seat extends over the heavens and the earth. And He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All- Knower (2:255–256). Allah …

الوجه C

This is the grave of … the blessed
al-Sayyid … Muhamad bin …
… month … year of one thousand and eight.

الوجه E (العلوي)

… between proudness and …
… paradise … At the end it happens … ***

TUB4

ABDE

1093/1682

التاريخ هـ/مDate AH/AD	1093/1682
الإحداثياتCo-ordinates	26.18503° N 050.54732° E
المقاساتDimensions	145 cm (l) × 29 cm (w) × 34 cm (h)
التوجيهOrientation	NNW-SSE

Single limestone slab gravestone set on a plaster slab on top of a marble plinth under a glass case in the Sheikh Hashem El Tublah mosque. Significant erosion on the top surface (E). Raised decoration broken or cut off at both ends. Inscriptions on five surfaces. Previous Publication: Number S14, Kalus (1995: 145–147). Original location described as unknown but at the time of recording it was in the courtyard of a house in the village (ibid: 145).

شاهد قبر من لوح جيري واحد موضوع على لوح جصّي فوق قاعدة رخامية داخل صندوق زجاجي في مسجد الشيخ هاشم التوبلاني. تآكل كبير في السطح العلوي (E). الزخرفة البارزة مكسورة أو مقطوعة عند الطرفين. نقوش على خمسة أوجه. نُشر سابقاً: رقم S14، كالوس (١٩٩٥: ١٤٥–١٤٧). الموضع الأصلي موصوف بأنّه مجهول، وكان وقت التوثيق في فناء بيت في القرية (المصدر نفسه: ١٤٥).

الوجه A

The angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but receive the glad tidings of the paradise which you have been promised. We have been your friends in the life of this world and are in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have all that your inner-selves desire, and therein you shall have all for which you ask. An entertainment … (41:30–32)
Eden Paradise, whose doors will be opened for them. Therein they will recline, therein they will call for fruits in abundance and drinks. And beside them will be chaste females restraining their glances and of equal ages. the day of Reckoning. Verily, this is our provision which will never finish. (38:50–54). God Almighty has spoken the truth. And His Messenger, the. Generous Prophet proclaimed the message.

الوجه B

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but he, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Him. To Him belongs whatever is in Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what happens to them in this world, and will happen to them in the Hereafter and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge
Except that which He wills. His Seat extends over the heavens and the and preserving them. And He is the
And He feels no fatigue in guarding God Almighty has spoken the truth. Most High, the Most Great (2:255). And His Messenger, the Generous Prophet proclaimed the message. And Ali, The commander of the faithful has spoken the truth. And Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
This is … the late, al-Sayyid …
al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Qaruni who died in eighth of Dhu al-Hijjah, one thousand and ninety-three.

الوجه D

Recite part of … from the income … from al-Kharajat … with
Crop of palms known as al-shatib alkabir which is located at Katkan area nearby the sea.

الوجه E (العلوي)

Engraved by … al-Sayyid Hashim … may Allah forgive them.
………… Chapter 3 Conclusions 1 Contemporary Practices Relating to Cemeteries, Graves, and Gravestones A variety of contemporary practices and associated material culture linked with gravestones were recorded during the fieldwork in the cemeteries, particularly in the larger cemeteries of Abu Anbra and Hoora