* Zulfiqar (spelling: Dhu'l-Fiqar) was the sword of Muhammad and his son-in-law, Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib; in Ali's hand this was to become the most famous sword in Islam, killing more men in fair combat than any sword in history. The scimitar is one of the oldest and best known symbols of Islam, as important to Muslims as Excalibur is to the British.
Muhammad first obtained the sword as booty following the Battle of Badr in 624 AD, and bequeathed it to Ali before his death. Ali's son, Imam Husayn bin Ali, used Zulfiqar in the against the Umayyad caliph Yazid I in the Battle of Karbala, where he and his family perished.

As a symbol of honour and knighthood, Zulfiqar has appeared in the iconography of Islamic nations for centuries, and was used extensively by the Abbasid Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire. Multiple conflicting images of the sword exist. Some show two parallel blades to emphasize its mystical abilities and speed, while others portray a more traditionally-shaped scimitar and still others depict a split, V-shaped blade. The Shi'a, who believe Ali was the first rightful successor to Muhammad, consider the sword to be as exceptional a weapon as Ali was a knight. Their saying, "La fatah illa Ali, la saif illa Zulfiqar", "there is no hero except Ali, there is no sword except his sword Zulfiqar", was frequently inscribed on new weapons.

Zulfiqar, and phonetic variations thereof, have been popular given names; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and American poet Zulfikar Ghose are named after the sword. Various spelt variations exist in modern language scripts, including "Zulfikar", "Dhulfaqar", "Zolfaqar", etc. "Zulfiqar", however, remains the most widely used rendition of the Arabic word.

Meaning
The name is variously explained, but is generally thought to mean "cleaver of the spine", "the two-pronged one" or "double-edged one". It is sometimes also interpreted as "sharp distinction between right and wrong" or "the one who distinguishes between right and wrong", or "trenchant".


* WiKipedia

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