Sudanese Dagger,grip translation

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by kwiatek

The inscription is not clear, words run into each other etc. and it is incomplete.

The style of the inscription goes back to the Mamluks, though this does not necessarily mean that it is that old of course.

It looks like the following, but it is really a guess and should not be taken as definitive. I guess it is an extract from a poem

العلق(؟) لا الملطاء(؟) العمر لا

'A blood clot(?) rather than a penetrating wound(?), life rather than ..."

I think most of the Sudanese inscriptions are indeed copied from Mamluk styling as their influence was notable in the regions of Sennar. The Mamluks had established there after fleeing from Egypt in 1517, and remained there as traders along with slaving. In 1821 they were overthrown but their influences remained profound.

It is my impression that the use of thuluth on the Mahdist blades derives from inscriptions on Mamluk metalwork, and the Sufi influences of course were strong throughout Sudan. These kinds of poetic phrases were well known in those contexts with metalwork.

That the inscriptions were not properly configured runs in line with the way the thuluth was usually applied, and often had to be worked into a set space. Thuluth inscriptions themselves, long thought to be illegible and simply decorative were actually Quranic phrases used in repitition as motif.