Relief-engraved shamshir
 

I would love to get some help translating the writing on this blade, and learning a bit about the country and date of origin.

The grip widening toward the crossguard was an almost characteristic feature of Caucasian shamshirs ( khmali). Also , the animalistic pommel ( snake head?) suggests Daghestani origin.
Also, the depiction of a man in Сaucasian attire with a long kindjal supports the above origin.

Thus, I would suggest Daghestani work from Amuzgi, second half of the 19 century.

On the other hand, I do not remember another Caucasian sword with so profusely etched blade and cannot help with translation.

But it is not a modern fake, which by itself is a major plus in this day and age of Internet acquisitions.
I am sure you got yourself a nice, old and genuine Caucasian shamshir-like sword.

Is it my imagination of a photographic defect , i.e. a transverse line across the entire blade distal of the cartouche? Was the blade broken and re-welded prior to the etching? The lettering seems to be uninterrupted.

I think that might be an optical effect; the etched or engraved area narrows suddenly by a step at that point, which creates the illusion of a line running across the blade.

There is no damage or alterations that I am aware of to the blade. Here are some additional photos of the grip/pommel, scabbard and sword belt (a bit brittle). I assume this was a ceremonial or decorative sword given all of the decoration and engraving...

Thanks for the new pics. They are much better.
Now one can say with 100% certainty: Daghestan, Amuzgi/Kubachi, second half of 19 сentury to early 20 century.
Why such a latter date?
The Caucasian War ended circa 1860-1870. Until then Daghestanis fought with Russian Empire and understandably did not manufacture expensive weapons for sale.
When the war ended they needed money and started producing richly decorated sabers and kinjals either locally (blades mainly in the Amuzgi aul, decor in Кubachi), or in workshops in the Russia-controlled towns: Omarov, Koshtoyanz etc. Yours is a classical example of a shamshir of that period. Almost all examples were sold to Russian officers and tourists: locals had no money.
Post Russian revolution and the ensuing Civil War sword manufacture there dwindled to virtually nothing.
Thus, the most likely period when this shamshir could have been manufactured is ~1880-1920.

The best book in English on the subject is “Arms and Armour of Caucasus” by Kirill Rivkin. Many swords identical to yours can be found in books by Emma Astvatsaturyan , but they are all in Russian.

One sign - Has it been sharpened? If not it's likely a status/parade piece.

Not to derail the thread, but is that true for kindjals from the Caucasian region as well? I have an unsharpened one, but I always kind of assumed that that was mainly because it is more thrust oriented.

Excellent insights! The blade has not been sharpened. Can I assume that the writing on the blade is an excerpt from the Koran?

Caucasian ethnicities had very different moral rules toward kinjal usage. Generally, stabbing was permitted only against certain opponents: animals ( that's easy), self-defence against enemies, fight with a horse thief etc.
That is reflected, for example, in kinjals from Guria: those are massive, long, broad and heavy with somewhat blunted abris of the point. They are in effect very short swords excellent for chopping, but poor for stabbing.
However, in the neighbouring Samegrelo, kinjals are narrow , with elongated "needle point" point ( pun not intended), ideal for stabbing, but poor choppers. Meghrels had very little, if any, restriction on stabbing.

Khevsurs had long and massive kinjals with razor-sharp edges and sharp points, but stabbing was frowned upon: it was considered a mark of a thief.
Go figure.

Generally, however, all of them had maximally sharpened edges. Modern souvenirs are sold blunt.

It doesn't strike me as a modern souvenir (though I could see the scabbard being a replacement), but I could be wrong of course. It wouldn't be my first oopsie. :o