Thuluth – Yaqut al-Mustasimi

This line of text reads: "Annahu la yastalim ila al-hajar al-aswad wa-al-rukn al-yamani" (He does not permit (it) except (at) the Black Stone and the Yemenite Corner). It appears that this text comprises a fragment of a pilgrimage guide or prescriptive text that states that, during ritual circumambulation (tawaf), touching or kissing the Ka'ba only is permitted at the Black Stone and the Yemenite Corner (the southeast corner). On the fragment's verso appears a note attributing the piece to the famous 13th-century calligrapher Yaqut al-Musta'simi (d. 696/1296). Active at the 'Abbasid court in Baghdad, he lived through the Mongol invasions (Qadi Ahmad 1959: 57-60). He wrote in the six cursive styles, which included thuluth (used here).