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(in Arabic Iṣbahān), a town and province in Persia, whose name, according to Hamza al-Iṣfahānī, means “the armies” (Māfarruk̲h̲ī, Kitāb Maḥāsin Iṣfahān , ed. Sayyid D̲j̲alāl al-Dīn Tihrāni, Tehran n.d., 5-6). 1. history The province, whose precise boundaries have varied at different times, is bounded on the north-east and east by the central desert. In the south-east by Yazd and Fārs, in the south and south-west by the Bak̲h̲tiyārī mountains, with peaks rising to over 11,000 ft., in the north-west by Luristān, Kazzāz, Kamara, a…

, the (modern) Arabie name for art. Individual treatment of aspects of the art of Islam will be found in articles under the following headings; ¶ the examples are given as a guide and are not intended to be exhaustive. 1. Techniques, e.g., architecture, bināʾ (building), fak̲h̲k̲h̲ār (the potter’s craft), fusayfisāʾ (mosaic), ḳalī (carpets), k̲h̲aṭṭ (calligraphy), ḳumās̲h̲ (textiles), metalwork, taṣwīr (painting), etc. 2. Materials, e.g., ʿād̲j̲ (ivory), billawr (crystal), d̲j̲iṣṣ (plaster), k̲h̲azaf (pottery and ceramics), ʿirḳ al-luʾluʾ (mother-of-pearl), libās …