Walters Ms. W.569, Koran

W.569

Koran

Vernacular: القرآن

This illuminated copy of the Qur'an was produced in the eleventh century AH / seventeenth CE in Iran. Apart from using a number of scripts, such as naskh, muḥaqqaq, and tawqīʿ, the manuscript features six pairs of decorated pages; two illuminated headpieces; and chapter headings, interlinear illumination, and marginal decoration. The Qur'anic text begins on fol. 2b and ends on fol. 331a. It is followed by a prayer (duʿāʾ) and a table of divination (taf'ul) in Arabic and Persian (fols. 332b-333a).The black leather binding has a central piece in the form of a diamond with pendants on four sides. The inner boards, with their traditional dentelle decoration, feature text from the "verse of the throne" (āyat al-kursī), 2:255-6, which is inscribed in the outer frame.

11th century AH / 17th CE

Iran

Book

Devotional

Scriptural

The primary language in this manuscript is Arabic. The secondary language of this manuscript is Persian.

Paper

Thick cream-colored, gold-flecked paper

Foliation: i+333+i

25.5 cm wide by 38.5 cm high

12.0 cm wide by 21.0 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 12
3. Framing lines in green, orange, gold, black, sepia, and blue

1. Title: al-Qurʾān
2. Text note: Text of Qur'an begins on fol. 2b and ends on fol. 331a, followed by a prayer (duʿāʾ) to be recited after the Qur'anic text and a table of divination (taf'ul) in Arabic and Persian (fols. 332b-333a)
3. Hand note: Written mainly in naskh script; muḥaqqaq script in center medallions on fols. 2b-3a, 152b-153a, and 331b-332a; tawqīʿ script for chapter headings and other incidental inscriptions
4. Decoration note: Six pairs of decorated pages (fols. 1b-2a, 2b-3a, 152b-153a, 331b-332a, and 332b-333a); two illuminated headpieces (fols. 3b and 154a); illuminated chapter headings; interlinear illumination; decorated borders; polychrome framing lines; marginal decorations and verse markers

fol. 1b:

1. 
2. Title: Right side of an illuminated double-page frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece

fol. 2a:

1. 
2. Title: Left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece

fol. 2b:

1. 
2. Title: Right side of a double-page opening inscribed with verses of chapter 1
3. Form: Opening decoration
4. Text: Chapter 1 (Sūrat al-fātiḥah)
5. Label: This is the right side of a double-page opening decoration containing the text of chapter 1 (Sūrat al-fātiḥah) inscribed in the center medallion in gold muḥaqqaq script on a blue background.

fol. 3a:

1. 
2. Title: Left side of a double-page opening inscribed with verses of chapter 1
3. Form: Opening decoration
4. Text: Chapter 1 (Sūrat al-fātiḥah)
5. Label: This is the left side of a double-page opening decoration containing the text of chapter 1 (Sūrat al-fātiḥah) inscribed in the center medallion in gold muḥaqqaq script on a blue background.

fol. 3b:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated incipit page with headpiece
3. Form: Incipit
4. Text: Chapter 2 (Sūrat al-baqarah)
5. Label: This illuminated incipit page introduces chapter 2 (Sūrat al-baqarah).

fol. 152b:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated page with verses from the end of chapter 17
3. Form: Illuminated page; chapter heading
4. Text: Chapter 17 (Sūrat Banī Isrāʾīl)
5. Label: This illuminated page contains verses from the end of chapter 17 (Sūrat Banī Isrāʾīl) inscribed in the center medallion in white muḥaqqaq script.

fol. 153b:

1. 
2. Title: Decorated incipit page with headpiece introducing chapter 18
3. Form: Incipit
4. Text: Chapter 18 (Sūrat al-kahf)
5. Label: This is a decorated incipit page with an illuminated headpiece introducing chapter 18 (Sūrat al-kahf).

fol. 331b:

1. 
2. Title: Right side of an illuminated finispiece with inscribed prayer
3. Form: Finispiece
4. Label: This richly decorated page contains a prayer to be recited at the end of the Qur'anic text. The prayer is inscribed in the center medallion in white muḥaqqaq script.

fol. 332b:

1. 
2. Title: Right side of a double-page table of divination (bibliomancy or tafa'ul)
3. Form: Finispiece
4. Label: This is the right side of a table of divination (bibliomancy or tafa'ul) executed in Arabic in tawqīʿ script and in Persian in nastaʿlīq script. The top inscription reads: fī al-tafa<ʾ>ul min kalām Allāh al-Majīd.

fol. 333a:

1. 
2. Title: Left side of a double-page table of divination (bibliomancy or tafa'ul)
3. Form: Finispiece
4. Label: This is the left side of a table of divination (bibliomancy or tafa'ul) executed in Arabic in tawqīʿ script and in Persian in nastaʿlīq script.

The binding is not original.

Black leather (with flap); upper board with a central piece in the form of a diamond with pendants on four sides; inner boards, with traditional dentelle decoration, feature text from the "verse of the throne" (āyat al-kursī), 2:255-6, inscribed in the outer frame

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Principal cataloger: Gacek, Adam

Catalogers: Landau, Amy; Smith, Sita

Editor: Bockrath, Diane

Conservators: Jewell, Stephanie; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Barrera, Christina; Emery, Doug; Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William; Simpson, Shreve; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Valle, Chiara

The Walters Art Museum

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