This silver talismanic box probably belonged to a Sufi, also known as darwish in Persian (from which we get the English term ‘dervish’). It is engraved with calligraphic bands on a ground of leafy scrolls. This container would probably have held papers written with Qur’anic verses, which would have been worn as an amulet on the arm for protection. The darwish would dress differently from the rest of society, wearing woollen garments and carrying ‘kashkul’ (begging bowls), made of metal or coconut shells. The Sufi (mystic), in his ‘Path’, must undertake voluntary poverty and asceticism. Poverty (‘faqr’) should be more of a spiritual nature (absence of desire for material wealth) than actual physical poverty. Many Sufis who pursued this concept, did renounce their worldly belongings.
