Arabic script is remarkably versatile, and Islamic calligraphers have always been able to draw on its many decorative possibilities, as here where the letter waw (and) is written in large scale normally and in mirror image to form the body of a ewer. Rendered in a tiny script at the juncture of the two waws is the phrase ma sha’allah, "Whatever God wills." Despite this recognizable calligraphy, the strong outline of the ewer and its floral decoration predominates.