The Qur'an consists of 114 chapters (suras) of uneven length. A system was therefore devised to divide the Qur'an into thirty equal parts, enabling a reading of generally uniform length each day of the month. This manuscript is the nineteenth section of the Qur'an and begins in the middle of chapter twenty-five, al-Furqan (the Differentiator). It has a Turkish interlinear translation, which may have been added a century or more after completion of the manuscript.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Section from a Qur'an
Date:probably second half 13th century
Geography:Made in Iraq or Turkey
Medium:Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper; tooled leather binding
Dimensions:H. 19 1/2 in. (49.5 cm) W. 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm)
Classification:Codices
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1975
Object Number:1975.201
Section of a Qur'an
This Qur’an consists of 114 chapters (suras) of uneven length. A system was therefore devised to divide the book into 30 equal parts, enabling a reading of generally uniform length each day of the month. The result is that sections can begin in the middle of a sura, as is the case with section 19 here, where the text starts with verse 23 of sura 25, "al-Furqan" (The Differentiator). Written on paper in black ink in muhaqqaq script, the Qur’an contains an interlinear Turkish translation added in a smaller script at a later date than the Arabic.[1] The manuscript ends in the middle of verse 41 of sura 27, but the last three words of the verse were squeezed in next to the line, most likely by someone other than the scribe.[2]
Because of the interlinear Turkish, this manuscript has been attributed to Iraq or Turkey of the second half of the thirteenth century, after the Mongol invasions and conquest of Baghdad in 1258. In addition, the style of the illuminated juz’ heading with its looping vines drawn in black ink and lively blue palmette leaves recalls that of a Munajat attributed to the Jazira (MMA 1995.324). Muhaqqaq calligraphy is one of the so-called six pens, or six rounded scripts whose rules were refined by the thirteenth-century master Yaqut, active in Baghdad in the second half of the thirteenth century.[3] This elegant style of writing became the favorite of calligraphers copying Qur’ans for patrons from Egypt to Iran from the late thirteenth through the fifteenth century.[4]
Although the illumination on the facing page incorporates details, such as the gold geometric interlace border, known from twelfth-century and earlier pages, the strict geometry of the composition is mitigated by the blue leaves, petals, and scrolls in the central roundel, its border, and the inscription bands above and below the field. The four circles in the corners of the field contain crescents filled with petals surrounding a smaller circle that has now darkened. The device recalls depictions of the moon such as those held by the central figures in the frontispieces of the Kitab al-diryaq (Book of antidotes, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris [Arabe 2964]). While a Qur’an would not contain a literal depiction of the moon, such a detail subliminally suggests God’s dominion in heaven as well as on earth.
Sheila R. Canby in [Canby, Beyazit, and Rugiadi 2016]
Footnotes:
1- The translation most likely dates from the early or middle Ottoman period (14th–16th century).
2- Part of this juz’ is most likely missing, since the nineteenth section usually ends with sura 27, verse 55. Moreover, the juz’ customarily begins with verse 21 or 22 of sura 25.
3- Blair, Sheila S. Islamic Calligraphy. Edinburgh, 2006, p. 242, notes the lack of agreement on the birth and death dates of Yaqut, stating that he was born in the first or second decade of the thirteenth century and died between 1297 and 1299.
4- Schimmel, Annemarie, and Barbara Rivolta. "Islamic Calligraphy." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 50, no. 1, summer 1992, p. 16.
Dikran G. Kelekian (American, born Turkey), New York (before 1935–d. 1951); [ Charles Dikran Kelekian (born France), New York, 1951–75; sold to MMA]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs," April 25–July 24, 2016, no. 189.
Canby, Sheila R., Deniz Beyazit, and Martina Rugiadi. "The Great Age of the Seljuqs." In Court and Cosmos. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. no. 189, p. 289, ill. (color).
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of Islamic art is one of the most comprehensive in the world and ranges in date from the seventh to the twenty-first century. Its more than 15,000 objects reflect the great diversity and range of the cultural traditions from Spain to Indonesia.