Zulfiqar or Zulfaqar (, ), also spelled Zu al-Faqar, Zulfakar, Dhu al-Faqar, or Dhulfaqar, is the sword of Ali ibn Abi Talib that was distinguished by having a double blade.
Legendary background
thumb|A stamped amulet, presumably made in India in the 19th century for a Shia patron. The amulet comprises gnostic squares, Qur'anic verses (including ayat al-kursi (2:255) running around the frame), divine or holy names, besides a depiction of Zulfiqar at the center.
In legend, the exclamation was made for prophet Muhammad by Allah, Muhammad gave the sword to imam Ali ibn Abi Talib to replace his old broken sword.
Modern references
In Qajar Iran, actual swords were produced based on the legendary double-pointed design. The Higgins Armory Museum collection, now at the Worcester Art Museum, 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".