Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript

This is a typical Qur'an page from the Mamluk period in Egypt. It includes the end of sura LXXXIII, the heading and the beginning of sura LXXXIV (al-inshiqaq). The verses are written in muhaqqaq script in black ink. This type of script has a monumental quality and it became the favorite in Quranic calligraphy in Iran and Mesopotamia in the 13th century. It gained prominence in Egypt during the 14th century.

The golden rosettes in the field are marks indicating the end of verses (ayat). The chapter heading in the lower part of the page is written in the thuluth script colored with white and outlined with black ink. In addition to the title of the chapter, it includes the verse-count and the place of revelation of this sura (Mecca in this case). The words are written within a golden "cloud" in a cartouche with floral scrolls on a blue and red ground. The medallion of the right margin is called 'ashara (ten). It is an ornament normally used to mark the end of each tenth verse, however here, for unclear reasons, the number eight (thaman) is written here to indicate the end of the 18th verse.

The illustration shows the verso of the folio.

Abdallah Kahli in [Walker et al. 1994]

Mr. and Mrs. Russell Pickering(until 1969; gifted to MMA)

Mexico City. Colegio de San Ildefonso. "Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York," September 30, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 4.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Balcony Calligraphy Exhibition," June 1–October 26, 2009, no catalogue.

Swietochowski, Marie, and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina. Notable Acquisitions 1965–1975 (1975). p. 133, ill. (b/w).

Schimmel, Annemarie. "Islamic Calligraphy." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., vol. 50, no. 1 (Summer 1992). pp. 16–17, ill. fig. 20 (color).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Daniel S. Walker, Arturo Ponce Guadián, Sussan Babaie, Stefano Carboni, Aimee Froom, Marie Lukens Swietochowski, Tomoko Masuya, Annie Christine Daskalakis-Matthews, Abdallah Kahli, and Rochelle Kessler. "Colegio de San Ildefonso, Septiembre de 1994–Enero de 1995." In Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1994. no. 4, pp. 52–53, ill. (b/w).