This silk textile has a design that was traditionally used for tomb covers. The religious inscriptions are worked in white, mustard-yellow and crimson and arranged in a zigzag pattern on a green ground. The texts on the wider bands alternate. The denser text within each V-shape of the zigzag quotes the Muslim creed, or statement of belief. This states, 'There is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God'. A looser pattern is made up of the word Allah ('God') placed above the name Muhammad. This is repeated at each angle of the zigzag. The inscriptions that make up the narrower bands vary. They may be one of three quotations from the Qu'ran relating to the Prophet (XXXIII, 56; XXXIII, 40; IX, 33). They may be a blessing on Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali and all the other Companions of the Prophet.