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The calligraphy on this textile is in the shape of a bird. It reads, “Oh Holy Solomon. Sanctification be upon his soul!” In Islamic tradition, Solomon—or Sulaiman—was a king and a prophet who had the ability to speak to animals. On one of his conquests, a hoopoe bird came to him with the news of a rich land, Sheba, whose queen worshipped the sun. Sulaiman sent the bird to the queen holding a letter in its beak. In it, he invited the queen to surrender to God’s will, that is, accept Islām, which she did.