Qur'an of Ibrahim Sultan

Signature: Signed and dated on colophon page

Inscription: In Arabic (vol. 2, folio 268b): This exalted book, i.e. the glorious Qur'an, which was written by the grandson of the most magnificent sultan of the age and the greatest emperor of the era, Sultan Ibrahim son of Mirza Shahrukh son of (Amir Timur Lord of the Conjunction) (may [God] cause them to dwell in highest paradise), has been entrusted to my safe-keeping, and I resort to the stronghold of His all-encompassing grace and the intercession of His Apostle when He resurrects bones to ashes. Aurangzeb son of the sultan of sultans, Most Just of Emperors, Shihab al-Din Muhammad [Shah Jahan Padishah Ghazi] the Second Lord of the Conjunction (may his kingdom and power last forever) in the months of the year 1048 of the hegira...
(Translated by Wheeler M. Thackston, 4/7/1987)

صدق الله العلي العظیم و صدق رسوله النبي الکریم و نحن علی ذلک من الشاهدین و الحمد لله رب العالمین

کتبه اضعف عباد الله الرحمن ابراهیم سلطان بن شاهرخ بن تیمور گورکان عفی الله عنه و غفر سیآته في رابع رمضان المبارک حجة ثلاثین و ثمانمائة الهجرة النبویة
بإسمه سبحانه
هذا الکتاب المستطاب و الخطاب الناطق بالصواب اعني/ القرآن الکریم و الفرقان العظیم الذي هو بخط حافد اعظم سلاطین الزمان/ و افخم خواقین الدوران سلطان ابرهیم بن میرزا شاهرخ بن/ (امیر تیمور صاحب القران)/ اسکنهم (الله تعالی) اعلی فرادیس الجنان قد ودعه لدي و اوجب/ حفظه عليّ و انا المتوسل بحبل لطفه العمیم و شفاعة رسوله حین/ یحیي العظام و هي رمیم اورنگ زیب بن سلطان السلاطین و اعدل الخواقین/ شهاب الدین محمد صاحب القران الثاني (شاه جهان پادشاه الغازي) خلد ملکه و سلطانه/ في شهور سنة ثمان و اربعین و الف من الهجرة النبویة علی صاحبها/ اجزل الصلوة و التحیة

(A. Ghouchani, 2011)

Marking: Seals and notes of the Mughal emperors

Library of Shah Jahan, India (from 1638); By descent to his son, Emperor Aurangzeb, India; Alexander Smith Cochran, Yonkers, NY (until 1913; gifted to MMA)

New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Celestial Pen: Islamic Calligraphy," September 28, 1982–February 7, 1983, no catalogue.

Washington. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. "Timur and the Princely Vision. Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century," April 14, 1989–July 6, 1989, no. 22.

Los Angeles. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Timur and the Princely Vision. Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century," August 13, 1989–November 5, 1989, no. 22.

Jackson, A. V. Williams, and A. Yohannan. Catalogue of the Collection of Persian Manuscripts, Including also some Turkish and Arabic, Presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York by Alexander Smith Cochran. Columbia University Indo Iranian Series, vol. 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 1912. no. 23, pp. 172–77.

Valentiner, William Reinhold. "The Cochran Collection of Persian Manuscripts." Museum of Metropolitan Art Bulletin, old series, vol. 8 (1913). pp. 80–86.

Lentz, Thomas W., and Glenn D. Lowry. "Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century." In Timur and the Princely Vision. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1989. no. 22, pp. 84, 332–33, ill. p. 84 (color).

Gibson, Melanie, ed. "Essays in Honor of Robert Hillenbrand." In Fruit of Knowledge, Wheel of Learning. London: Gingko, 2022.