The oldest Qur'anic calligraphic tradition

[Qur'an - Kufic]. [Verses from Al-Mu'minun, Al-Nur, Luqman, and Al-Ankabut].

€ 58,000.00

A beautiful Kufic Qur'an manuscript from the late Golden Age of Islam. Its striking, bold Kufic script is the style representative of the earliest Qur'ans surviving today, decorated with gold and red verse markers, and medallions in the margins. The scribe, likely working out of Persia or Central Asia, selected four chapters of the Qur'an from which to draw a selection of verses: the 23rd and 24th (Al-Mu'minun and Al-Nur), and the 29th and 31st (Luqman and al-Ankabut). While this includes most of Juz' 18, the selection appears to be based on themes in which the scribe was particularly interested in preserving, rather than on formal partitions of the Qur'an. For example, the verses taken from Surah al-Mu'minun include the full story of Noah, anecdotes on Moses and the Quraysh - the recurring theme being, perhaps, the disbelief Noah and Moses faced, and the punishments of non-believers (the Quraysh, and the Flood). Similarly in Surah al-Ankabut, verses are included which show Abraham being questioned by his people and tested by Allah, in a mirror of Noah. Surah al-Nur, on the other hand, includes the famous verses relating to unlawful sexual intercourse, and the punishments for defaming innocent women (including the story of Aisha). Taken together, the manuscript is a beautiful example of the oldest Quranic calligraphic tradition.