ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Suleiman ibn 'Abd al-Malik, AH 96-99 / AD 715-717. Dirham (Silver, 26 mm, 2.84 g, 12 h), Bahrusir, AH 97 = 715/6. ‘lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū’ (‘There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him’ in Arabic); in the margin: ‘bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham bi Bahrusīr fī sana sabʿ wa tisʿīn’ (‘In the name of Allah. This dirham was struck in Bahrusir in the year 97’ in Arabic). Rev. ‘Allāh aḥad Allāh / al-ṣamad lam yalid wa / lam yūlad wa lam yakun / lahū kufuwan aḥad’ (‘Allah is One, Allah is Absolute, He begets not, nor is He begotten, and none is like Him’ in Arabic; Qurʾān 112: 1-4); in the margin: ‘Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahū bi al-hudā wa dīn al-ḥaqq liyuẓhirahū ʿalā al-dīn kullih wa law kariha al-mushrikūn’ (‘Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may make it overcome all religions, even though the unbelievers may dislike it’ in Arabic). Album 131. Very fine.

From the collection of Dr. D. Löer, formed since the 1970s.