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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy
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Qur'anic verses
AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: unknown
CREATED/PUBLISHED
14th- 15th centuries
NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 14.9 (w) x 20.3 (h) cm
Script: thuluth
This Qur'anic fragment includes a carpet page on the left intended to introduce a new section of the Qur'an, as well as the subsequent verses, i.e. ayahs 53-54 of the 39th surah of the Qur'an entitled al-Zumar (The Crowds). The immediately preceding verses (50-52) appear on the left side of the fragment's verso (1-84-154.26 V). Surat al-Zumar is the last of a series of six chapters (34-39) dealing with the mysteries of the spiritual world and the Hereafter. Verse 53 in particular stresses God's compassion:
Say: O creatures of God, those of you / Who have acted against your own interests / Should not be disheartened of the mercy of God. / Surely God forgives all sins. / He is All-Forgiving and All-Merciful.
The green and red illuminated carpet page on the folio's left is intended to introduce the 24th section (juz') of the Qur'an, and it includes an extracted inscription containing verses 77-79 of Chapter 56 entitled Surat al-Waqi'ah (The Inevitable). These verses typically open the Qur'an as included on a double page illuminated frontispiece (see 1-88-154.8a and 1-89-154.168 R), although they may appear in decorated pages used to separate the parts (ajza') of the Qur'an. The verses read:
That this is indeed a Glorious Qur'an / In a Well-Guarded Book, / Which none shall touch but those who are clean.
The text on the right side of the folio is executed in black thuluth script at five lines per page. A number of alifs (the vowel "a") are picked out in red ink, while the name of God (Allah) is written out in gold and outlined in black ink. In the right margin appears the term 'ashar, which denotes the tenth verse, while verse markers consist of eight-petalled rosettes with red and blue dots.
The verso of this fragment continues with verses 32-34 and, on the left hand side, verses 50-52 of al-Zumar (The Crowds). Verse 34 in particular promises God's recompense for good behavior:
They shall have all that they wish for / In the presence of their Lord. / Such is the reward of those who do good.
This illuminated page's style and the text's script all match another fragment in the Library of Congress (1-87-154.151 R & V, viz. Selim 1979, 161). Both fragments appear to have come from the same Qur'an produced during the Mamluk period (14th-15th centuries) in Egypt.
SUBJECT
Arabic script calligraphy
Thuluth
Arabic calligraphy
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Islamic calligraphy
Islamic manuscripts
MEDIUM
43.3 (w) x 30 (h) cm
CALL NUMBER
1-84-154.26
REPOSITORY
Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
DIGITAL ID
ascs 073
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.073
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