phrase is sometimes reversed, instead saying "there is no Hero but Ali, and there is no sword but the Zulfiqar". A record of this statement as part of a longer talismanic inscription was published by Tewfik Canaan in The Decipherment of Arabic Talismans (1938). Heger (2008) speculates that the talismanic formula may be old and may have originated as a Christian invocation. Legendary background In legend, the exclamation was given after Muhammad asked God to give him a sword. The sword appears in Muhammad's hands and then Muhammad throws the sword to Ali to replace his old broken sword. Al-Tirmidhi attributes to Ibn Abbas the tradition that Muhammad acquired the sword on the day of Badr, after he had seen it in a dream concerning the day of Uhud. Modern references In Qajar Iran, actual swords were produced based on the legendary double-pointed design. Thus, the Higgins Collection holds a ceremonial sabre with a wootz steel blade, dated to the late 19th century, with a cleft tip. The curator comments that "fractures in the tip were not uncommon in early wootz blades from Arabia" suggesting that the legendary double-pointed design is based on a common type of damage incurred by blades in battle. The tip of this specimen is split in the blade plane, i.e. "For about 8" of its length from the point the blade is vertically divided along its axis, producing side-by-side blades, each of which is finished in itself", in the curator's opinion "a virtuoso achievement by a master craftsman". Another 19th-century blade in the same collection features a split blade as well as saw-tooths along the edge, combining two possible interpretations of the name Dhu-l-Faqar. This blade is likely of Indian workmanship, and it was combined with an older (Mughal era) Indian hilt. "Zulfiqar" and its phonetic variations has come into use as given name, as with former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In Iran, the name of the sword has been used as an eponym in military contexts; thus, Reza Shah Pahlavi renamed the military order Portrait of the Commander of Faithful to Order of Zolfaghar in 1925. The 58th Takavar Division of Shahroud is also named after the sword. An Iranian main battle tank is also named after the sword, Zulfiqar. Gallery References Middle Eastern swords Mythological swords Islamic mythology Shia Islam Amulets Heraldic charges Islamic terminology Life of Muhammad Islamic religious objects