Collection Items
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialBihari Qur'an Interlinear Qur'an, Arabic with Persian interpretation. Most Qur'ans written in bihari script make us of strong orange or red and blue colors for illuminated motifs, as well as for the main body of the text. This particular fragment repeats lines of script in the following manner: one line of gold, two lines of black, one line of blue, two lines of black, one line…- Date: 14??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialInterlinear Qur'an (Surat al-Nisa') A further sense of antiquity appears in the gold surah heading in Kufi at the top of the left folio. It harks back to earlier decorative ornaments and illumination present in Qur'ans of the 'Abbasid period (Déroche 1992). The paper is cream-colored, and the ink on the verso shows through to the recto. An effaced gold and blue ayah marker appears in the right…- Date: 1250
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialTughra of Sultan Ahmed III Ottoman Turkish work, recognized by Turkish speakers as Turkish. Dimensions of Written Surface: 19.8 (w) x 15 (h) cm The tughra included here has a long tradition as a royal calligraphic emblem in Turkic cultures. From the time of the Oguz, Seljuks, and most especially the Ottomans, it became the blazon of a ruler that included his name and titles, sometimes in highly stylized…- Date: 1700
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialFal-i Qur'an (divination by the Qur'an) Safavid Iranian Fortune Readings in Persian based on the Qur'an. Although divination by the Qur'an appears largely in a Safavid Shi'ite context, other examples of fals by means of the Qur'an entitled "Fi tafa'ul min kalam Allah al-majid" (on divination by means of Allah's glorious words) and "dar fal-i mushaf" (on divination by the Book) also appear in Sunni Ottoman artistic traditions during the…- Date: 1550
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialInterlinear Qur'an (5: 89-95) Qajar Iranian Interlinear Qur'an, Arabic with Persian interpretation. Although not as refined as some Persian interlinear Qur'ans made for Safavid rulers (Bayani et al 1999: 138-45, cat. no. 45), this fragment reveals the extent to which the practice of translation in Persian and other non-Arabic languages became an integral part of the program of Qur'anic production. For instance, many Qur'ans from Kashmir nearly contemporary…- Date: 1792
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialMirror image of 'Ali wali Allah Ottoman Turkish Levaha in Arabic, 18th-century written by calligrapher Mahmud Ibrahim. Dimensions of Written Surface: 21.6 (w) x 16 (h) cm The process of mirror writing and mirror image-making flourished in the Ottoman empire during the 18th and 19th centuries, in particular in mystical quarters associated with the Bektashi order. The Bektashis created calligraphic panels and paintings representative of their tenets, among which the…- Contributor: Mahmud Ibrahim
- Date: 172?
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialQur'anic verses (9:33-36) Qur'anic verses in the Masahif style of Arabic calligraphic writing. In the upper left corner of the folio appears a section (hizb) marker, consisting of gold and blue concentric circles, blue finials on its perimeter, and the word hizb written in its center (see Selim 1979, 155). The ayah marker that appears in the center of the uppermost line consists of a flower with…- Date: 14??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialQur'anic verses (44:56-59, 45:1-4) Qur'anic verses in the Masahif style of Arabic calligraphic writing. Below the chapter heading in gold executed in pseudo-eastern Kufi script, a cursive transcription of the same heading is written in blue thuluth. It states that the chapter consists of thirty-seven ayat and was revealed in Mecca. The blue transcription was probably added at a later date to clarify the rather illegible surah heading,…- Date: 14??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialSurat al-Nas and Du'a Ottoman, Safavid Style Arabic Quranic Page. Although only one illuminated folio remains, it originally would have created a double-page illuminated du'a. This layout is typical of Safavid Persian Qur'ans from the second half of the 16th century (see James 1992b: 178-9, cat. no. 43), as well as Ottoman Turkish Qur'ans from the same period. For instance, a similar prayer appears immediately at the end…- Date: 15??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialSafavid Qur'an (2:11-27) A page from an Safavid Qur'an. Recto: Dimensions of Written Surface: 13.4 (w) x 22.4 (h) cm. Verso: Dimensions of Written Surface: 13.2 (w) x 22.7 (h) cm. The fragment's calligraphy and illumination are typically Safavid Persian (1501-1722). Many Qur'ans made for export in the southwestern city of Shiraz during the second half of the 16th century contain similar motifs (James 1992b: 150-55, cat.…- Date: 15??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialBismillah and Qur'anic verse (81:1-14) In Rayhani script, a Quranic page, probable location of 13 century Iran. Dimensions of Written Surface: 15.5 (w) x 8.8 (h) cm The calligraphy is executed in rayhani script. This writing style is most closely associated with the master calligrapher Yaqut al-Musta'simi (d. 1298) and Qur'ans produced in Iran during the 13th and 14th centuries. It is related to other cursive styles, in particular…- Date: 13??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialQur'anic verses (107-9, 110-112) Quranic Pages in Thuluth (headings) and Masahif (verses) scripts. Recto: Dimensions of Written Surface: 21.4 (w) x 28.9 (h) cm. Verso: Dimensions of Written Surface: 21.5 (w) x 29.3 (h) cm. The calligraphy used for the verses is masahif, a cursive script that is a smaller and less stiff version than muhaqqaq. Its name, which means "codices"or "volumes," reflects its common use for copying…- Date: 14??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialQur'anic verses (4: 94-100, 100-105) Qur'an, Surah in the Eastern Kufi style associated to Iraq and Iran. Dimensions of Written Surface: Recto: 22 (w) x 28.5 (h) cm. Dimensions of Written Surface: Verso: 22.3 (w) x 28.5 (h) cm. Many Qur'ans written in eastern Kufi, such as this example, bear the complete vowelling system invented by al-Khalil b. Ahmad (Zakariya 1979, 19), which set the standard for Arabic orthography…- Date: 11??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialAnonymous Arabic and Persian poetic verses Arabic and Persian verses of poems in nasta'liq script. Dimensions of Written Surface: (including outside panels) 21.3 (w) x 30 (h) cm Do not deprive me, / My God and Lord, / Of his great intercession, / For he is the only intercessor. If you forgive me / Your forgiveness will save me / Otherwise I am damned / By the perishing sin. My… -
Manuscript/Mixed Materialal-Fatihah An example of a "Fatihah" which introduces the Qur'an by praising God. 'Aliriza may be the 19th-century Persian calligrapher 'Aliriza b. Hajji Muhammad Ja'far, who executed a calligraphic work dated 1258/1842 now held in the National Library of Iran (Bayani 1358/1939, vol. 4, entry 315). 'Aliriza's work shows a revival of interest in the naskh script during the modern period and appears indebted to…- Contributor: Aliriza
- Date: 1825
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialQur'an carpet page In Thuluth script, an example of a Qur'an opening page. All or parts of these five verses appear on decorative carpet pages intended to begin the Qur'an or to separate various parts (sing. juz', pl. ajza') of the Holy Book. They remind the reader of the sacred character of the Qur'an, while providing an artistic, visual break from the text per se. For a…- Date: 13??
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Manuscript/Mixed Materialal-Baqarah (The cow) Early naskh; Surah al Baqarah. Below an illuminated rectangular panel, this folio includes part of the last verse of the Qur'an's first chapter entitled al-Fatihah (The Opening), which appears on another folio in the collections of the Library of Congress (see 1-85-154.78b V). Below the last line of al-Fatihah appears the title, executed in gold and outlined in black, of the Qur'an's second chapter…- Date: 10??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialIlluminated frontispiece A typical 16th century Persianate frontispieces made for a Qur'an, from Herat, present day Afghanistan. Illuminators during the first half of the 16th century experimented with the double-page illuminated frontispiece. For example, the artist Shaykhzadah began using black backgrounds and invented new arabesque or scrollwork motifs. These motifs not only appeared in frontispieces, but were used as architectural ornamentation in manuscript paintings (Soudavar 1992:…- Date: 15??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialQur'anic verses (56:77-9) on carpet page In the Thuluth script, typical of the Mamluk period (14th-15th centuries). As noted in the red rectangular registers located at the top and bottom of this inscribed panel, this folio introduces the 26th part (juz') of the Qur'an (Selim 1979, 161). The central space includes an inscription containing verses 77-79 of Chapter 56 entitled Surat al-Waqi'ah (The Inevitable). These verses typically open the Qur'an…- Date: 13??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialDivan of Sultan Husayn Mirza Sultan Bayqara, ruler of Khurasan, based in Herat. A découpage work in the Chagatai Turkish or (chg (jag) language. Although the technique of découpage emerges during the second half of the 15th century, it became a popular tool for the making of Ottoman kalips (calligraphic perforated sheets) during the 16th-18th centuries (Safwat 1996: 142-43 and 194). Other extractive calligraphic techniques also include painting a…- Contributor: Sultan 'Ali Al-Mashhadi
- Date: 1492
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Manuscript/Mixed Materialal-Baydawi's "Anwar al-Tanzil wa Asrar al-Ta'wil" (with frontispiece) A work of popular Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir) composed by the thirteenth-century scholar al-Baydawi. Dimensions of Written Surface: Recto: 11.4 (w) x 18.3 (h) cm. Dimensions of Written Surface: Verso: 11.7 (w) x 19.2 (h) cm. Script: Verso: naskh and riq'ah The center panel contains a variety of polygonal shapes interlacing to form a carpet page with a palette dominated by brown, gold, and blue…- Date: 13??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialIjazah (diploma) An "ijazah", or diploma of competency in Arabic calligraphy, was written by 'Ali Ra'if Efendi in 1206/1791. Dimensions of Sheet: 28 (w) x 21 (h) cm For further information on ijazah practices, see F. Déroche, "Maîtres et disciples: la transmision de la culture calligraphique dans le monde musulman," Revue du Monde Musulman et de la Méditerranée 75-6 (1996): 81-90 and U. Derman, "Turk yazi…- Contributor: Ali Ra'if Efendi
- Date: 1791
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialQur'anic verses Quranic page in the Muhaqqaq script in the "Baysunghur" style, made either in Herat or Samarqand ca. 1400 A.D. [How will God guide those who reject faith] after they accepted it and bore witness that the Messenger was true? (3:86) Dimensions of Written Surface: 20.7 (h) x 36.2 (w) cm In its simplicity and grandeur, it recalls the famous "Baysunghur" Qur'an made either in…- Date: 14??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialQur'anic verses Surahs from the Qur'an in the black Persian naskh script, headings are white thuluth script. At the very bottom of the left folio appears the heading of the next chapter (54), i.e,. Surat al-Qamar (The Moon), followed by an initial bismillah. The heading is executed much like the heading of Surat al-Waqi'ah on the right side of the fragment, and specifies that it consists…- Date: 15??
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Manuscript/Mixed MaterialQur'an carpet page; al-Fatihah The main text is in Naskh script, also has thuluth script in recto section, Qur'an from Mamluk era Cairo. 14-15th centuries. All or parts of these five verses appear on decorative carpet pages intended to begin the Qur'an or to separate various parts (sing. juz', pl. ajza') of the Holy Book. They remind the reader of the sacred character of the Qur'an, while providing…- Date: 13??
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