Egypt & Syria (Pre-Fatimid). Tulunids. Harun, AH 283-292 / AD 896-904. Dirham (Silver, 25 mm, 2.90 g, 4 h), citing the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh, Misr, AH 289 = AD 902/3. Central field, in four lines: lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū / letter resembling bāʾ (‘There is no deity but God alone; He has no associate’ in Arabic). Margin: bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham bi-Miṣr sanat tisʿ wa-thamānīn wa-miʾatayn (‘In the name of God, this dirham was struck in Miṣr in the year two hundred and eighty-nine’ in Arabic). Outer margin (Qurʾān 30:4-5): li-llāh al-amr min qabl wa-min baʿd wa-yawmaʾidhin yafraḥ al-muʾminūn bi-naṣr Allāh (‘To God belongs the command before and after, and on that day the believers will rejoice in the help of God’ in Arabic). Rev. Central field, in seven lines: li-llāh / Muḥammad / rasūl / Allāh / al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh / Hārūn ibn Khumārawayh / letter resembling bāʾ (‘For God / Muḥammad / Messenger / of God / al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh / Hārūn ibn Khumārawayh’ in Arabic). Margin (Qurʾān 9:33): Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahu bi-l-hudā wa-dīn al-ḥaqq li-yuẓhirahu ʿalā al-dīn kullihi wa-law kariha al-mushrikūn (‘Muḥammad is the Messenger of God, whom He sent with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all religion, even though the polytheists may dislike it’ in Arabic). Album 668. Exceedingly rare. Slightly cleaned, tiny scratches and a flan fault on the edge, otherwise, very fine.


Although Ṭūlūnid gold dinars are themselves rare and highly desirable, silver dirhams of Hārūn ibn Khumārawayh are exceedingly rare and far less frequently encountered than the gold issues.