ABSTRACT
Al-Harith is trying to negotiate the rights to import Malaysian tin into the Middle East. He invites one of the chief merchants in Kuala Lumpur who arrives wearing a waistcoat made from silk panels that came from the inner lining of the textile covering (kiswa) of the Kaʿba in Mecca. The panels contain elaborate religious inscriptions and designs of lamps. The merchant explains how he obtained these precious pieces of Ottoman silk from a dealer in antiquities named Abu Zayd.
