Walters Ms. W.577, Koran

W.577

Koran

Vernacular: القرآن

This small, illuminated single-volume copy of the Qurʾan was produced in Ottoman Turkey in 1282 AH / 1865-6 CE by Muḥammad ibn Muṣṭafá Izmīrī, a pupil of al-Rudūsī. The colophon in ijāzah script indicates that the present codex is the twenty-first copy executed by him (fol. 304b). The manuscript opens with an illuminated double-page incipit with the verses of chapters 1 (Sūrat al-fātiḥah) and 2 (Sūrat al-baqarah) (fols. 1b-2a). The text is written in naskh script in black ink with reading marks in red. Verses are separated by illuminated discs with colored dots and chapter headings are in riqāʿ script in white ink. Polychrome medallions in the margins indicate textual divisions and prostration. The binding of black leather is contemporary with the manuscript and decorated with a tooled and gold-painted geometric design enclosed by gold frames on the upper and lower boards.

1282 AH / 1865-6 CE

Turkey

As-written name: Muḥammad ibn Muṣṭafá Izmīrī

Name, in vernacular: محمد بن مصطفى ازميري

Note: Izmīrī was a pupil of Rudūsī (see colophon).

Book

Scriptural

The primary language in this manuscript is Arabic.

1. Transliteration: katabahu al-faqīr al-ḥaqīr al-muʿarraf bi-al-ʿajz wa-al-taqṣīr al-muḥtāj ilá raḥmat rabbih al-qadīr /1/ qad tamma h<ā>dhihi [sic] al-muṣḥaf al-sharīf iḥdá wa-ʿishrīn [sic] ʿan yad ʿabd [sic] al-ḍaʿīf /2/ Muḥammad ibn Muṣṭafá al-maʿrūf bi-Izmīrī bi-Ḥāfiẓ al-Qurʾān min talāmīdh /3/ al-Rudūsī ghafara lahum wa-li-man naẓara ilayhi wa-lil-muʾminīn wa-al-muʾmināt [sic] /4/ wa-al-muslimīn wa-al-muslimāt bi-raḥmatika yā arḥam /5/ al-rāḥimīn ta<ʾ>rīkh sanat ithná wa-thamānūn [sic] /6/ miʾah wa-alf 1282 /7/
2. Comment: Indicates the date of copying, the name of the scribe, and the fact that this codex is the twenty-first copy made by him

Paper

Cream-colored paper

Foliation: ii+304+i

Catchwords: On versos, written obliquely outside the frame

9.0 cm wide by 13.0 cm high

5.0 cm wide by 8.5 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 15
3. Framing lines in red, black, and gold

1. Title: al-Qurʾān
2. Scribe: Muḥammad ibn Muṣṭafá Izmīrī
3. Hand note: Written in naskh script in black ink with reading marks in red; chapter headings in riqāʿ script in white ink; colophon in ijāzah script in black ink
4. Decoration note: Double-page illuminated incipit (fols. 1b-2a); chapter headings; text frames ruled in red, black, and gold; illuminated discs with colored dots for verse markers; marginal ornaments for marking textual divisions and prostration

Upper board outside:

1. 
2. Title: Binding
3. Form: Binding
4. Label: This nineteenth-century Ottoman Turkish black leather binding is decorated with a tooled and gold-painted geometric design enclosed by frames, including a wide frame with tooled chain-link design.

fol. 1b:

1. 
2. Title: Right side of an illuminated double-page incipit
3. Form: Incipit
4. Text: Chapter 1 (Sūrat al-fātiḥah)
5. Label: The right side of this illuminated double-page incipit is the incipit for chapter 1 (Sūrat al-fātiḥah). The page is divided into three compartments: an upper and lower panel flanking a central area. In the upper and lower panels the chapter title and number of verses are inscribed in headings in riqāʿ script in white ink. In the central area the Qur'anic verses are written in vocalized naskh script in black ink with reading marks in red. The border contains polychrome trefoils and floral scroll work on a blue ground.

fol. 2a:

1. 
2. Title: Left side of an illuminated double-page incipit
3. Form: Incipit
4. Text: chapter 2 (Sūrat al-baqarah)
5. Label: The left side of this illuminated double-page incipit is the incipit for chapter 2 (Sūrat al-baqarah). The page is divided into three compartments: an upper and lower panel flanking a central area. In the upper and lower panels the chapter title and number of verses are inscribed in headings in riqāʿ script in white ink. In the central area the Qur'anic verses are written in vocalized naskh script in black ink with reading marks in red. The border contains polychrome trefoils and floral scroll work on a blue ground.

fol. 26a:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated text page
3. Form: Text page
4. Text: Chapter 3 (Sūrat al-'imrān)
5. Label: On this text page are the initial verses of chapter 3 (Sūrat al-'imrān). The text is written in naskh script in black ink with reading marks in red. Illuminated discs with colored dots separate the verses.

fol. 304b:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated colophon
3. Form: Colophon
4. Text: katabahu al-faqīr al-ḥaqīr al-muʿarraf bi-al-ʿajz wa-al-taqṣīr al-muḥtāj ilá raḥmat rabbih al-qadīr /1/ qad tamma h<ā>dhihi [sic] al-muṣḥaf al-sharīf iḥdá wa-ʿishrīn [sic] ʿan yad ʿabd [sic] al-ḍaʿīf /2/ Muḥammad ibn Muṣṭafá al-maʿrūf bi-Izmīrī bi-Ḥāfiẓ al-Qurʾān min talāmīdh /3/ al-Rudūsī ghafara lahum wa-li-man naẓara ilayhi wa-lil-muʾminīn wa-al-muʾmināt [sic] /4/ wa-al-muslimīn wa-al-muslimāt bi-raḥmatika yā arḥam /5/ al-rāḥimīn ta<ʾ>rīkh sanat ithná wa-thamānūn [sic] /6/ miʾah wa-alf 1282 /7/
5. Label: This final page of the Qur'an has a signed and dated colophon written in ijāzah script. The colophon indicates that the text was copied by Muḥammad ibn Muṣṭafá in 1282 AH / 1865-6 CE. It also indicates that this codex is the twenty-first copy made by this particular calligrapher.

Inapplicable.

Contemporary with manuscript; black leather (with flap); upper and lower boards with tooled and gold-painted geometric design enclosed by gold frames, including a wide frame with tooled chain-link design; fore-edge flap with gold-painted "S" design in a rectangular frame; endpapers of tinted blue paper

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

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.