QMI-INS-055pz · 2nd c. AH
Inscription of al-Mahd: “God is the Protector of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb”
نقش المهد: «الله ولي عمر بن الخطاب»
al-Mahd governorate, al-Madīnah region, Saudi Arabia
- الله ولي عمر
- بن الخطاب
- في الدنيا و
- الآخر
- ة لا إله إلا الله
God is the protector of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb in this world and the Hereaf- ter. There is no god but God.
A five-line rock inscription from al-Mahd governorate, in the region of al-Madīnah, recorded by the Saudi Heritage Commission during the second season of its archaeological survey of al-Mahd, which documented 461 Islamic inscriptions among more than 1,700 finds; the Commission announced it in June 2026. It asks that God be the walī, the protector and patron, of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb “in this world and the Hereafter”, and closes with the first half of the profession of faith, “There is no god but God”. The writer does not give his name, and the text carries no date.
Source: Saudi Heritage Commission (@MOCHeritage), announcement of the second season of the archaeological survey of al-Mahd governorate, June 2026; reported by the Saudi Press Agency and by Asharq, 12 June 2026. Photograph: Heritage Commission. Reading by Ahmed W. Shaker from the published photograph.