The Kasr Kharana Inscription, 92 AH / 710 CE

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First Composed: 24th November 2005

Last Modified: 27th November 2005

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Assalamu ʿalaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure: (a) The inscription and its trace, (b) content of the main body and (c) the content of last three lines across from main inscription.

Date

92 AH / 710 CE.

Script

Kufic.

Contents

The translation of the inscription is [after Abbott]:

  1. Oh my God have mercy on ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmar and forgive him
  2. his faults, those that are passed and those to come, those that are hidden and those that are manifest.
  3. No one of himself draws nigh unto thee but that thou forgivest him and hast mercy upon him
  4. if he believes. I believe in my Lord. Therefore bestow thou on me thy benefits for thou art the Benefactor, and have mercy
  5. upon me for thou art the Merciful. Oh my God, I beg to thee to
  6. accept from him his prayers and his veneration. Amen, oh Lord of the worlds! Lord of
  7. Moses and Aaron! may God have mercy on him who reads it then says, Amen! Amen! Oh Lord of
  8. of the worlds, the Mighty, the Wise! ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar wrote (it) in
  9. Monday three (nights) remaining from Muharram of the year two and ninety.
  10. Witnessed by Lām ibn Hārūn. And lead us so we meet with my Prophet and his Prophet in this world
  11. and the next.
The lines across from the main inscription read:
  1. In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
  2. Oh my God, grant forgiveness to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmar.
  3. Nothing molested him in the world and he is safe even though seized (by death).

Comments

The inscription, which is a pious invocation, is full of Qur'anic flavour especially in lines 2 and 4 of the main inscription.

This inscription was poorly photographed and many scholars found considerable difficulties in deciphering it. Nabia Abbott provided nearly the complete reading of this inscription.

Location

Kasr Kharana, near Amman, Jordan.

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References

[1] N. Abbott, "The Kasr Kharāna Inscription Of 92 H. (710 A.D.), A New Reading", Ars Islamica, 1946, Volumes 11-12, pp. 5-8. Picture also reproduced by Adolf Grohmann in Arabische Paläographie II: Das Schriftwesen. Die Lapidarschrift, 1971, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Philosophisch - Historische Klasse: Denkschriften 94/2. Hermann Böhlaus Nachf.: Wein, Plate XIV.

[2] Ét. Combe, J. Sauvaget and G. Wiet, Répertoire Chronologique D'Épigraphie Arabe, 1931, Imprimerie De L'Institut Français D' Archéologie Orientale: Le Caire, pp. 18-19, No. 20 and 21. This contains an incomplete reading of the inscription.

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