Walters Ms. W.743, Koran

W.743

Koran

Vernacular: القرآن

This illuminated copy of the Qur'an was written in naskh script in Istanbul (al-Qusṭanṭinīyah) in 1269 AH / 1853 CE by Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿUmar, a pupil of Amīn al-Bahjat (Behcet). According to the colophon (fol. 257b), the manuscript was finished in Ramaḍān 1269 AH / 1853 CE. The scribe states that he was born in Kūmuljunah (Gümülcine, Komotini in northeastern Greece) and resided in the Madrasat Mulāzimlar, in the vicinity of Ḥammām Sulaymānīyah in al-Qusṭanṭinīyah. The manuscript opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece of Sūrat al-fātiḥah and the beginning of Sūrat al-baqarah. There are two finispieces: a colophon (misbound at fol. 257b) and a final prayer (fol. 305a). Other illuminated elements include chapter headings and verse markers in the form of illuminated disks and rosettes.

Ramaḍān 1269 AH / 1853 CE

al-Qusṭanṭinīyah (Istanbul), Turkey

As-written name: Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿUmar

Name, in vernacular: محمد صالح بن عمر

Note: Scribe states in the colophon (fol. 257b) that he was born in Kūmuljunah (Gümülcine, Komotini in northeastern Greece), resided in the Madrasat Mulāzimlar, in the vicinity of the Baths (Ḥammām Sulaymānīyah in al-Qusṭanṭinīyah [Istanbul]), and was a pupil of Amīn al-Bahjat (Behcet)

Book

Scriptural

The primary language in this manuscript is Arabic.

2. Transliteration: wa-bi-Allāh al-tawfīq /1/ katabahu al-faqīr al-ḥaqīr al-muḥtāj ilá raḥmat Rabbih al-Qadīr /2/ aḍʿaf al-khaṭṭāṭin al-maʿrūf bi-Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ bn ʿUmar /3/ mawlidhu maʿrūf fī Diyār al-Rūm bi-madīnat Kūmuljunah wa-maskanuhu /4/ bi-Madrasat Mulāzimlar fī qurb Ḥammām Sulaymānīyah fī al-Qusṭanṭinīyah /5/ wa-huwa min talāmīdh Amīn al-Bahjat wa-kāna taḥrīruhu maʿahu tisʿatan [sic] /6/ ghafara Allāh lahum wa-li-wālidayhim wa-li-man naẓara ilayhi wa-li-al-muʾminīn wa-al-muʾmināt /7/ wa-al-muslimīn wa-al-muslimāt al-aḥyāʾ minhum wa-al-amwāt /8/ bi-raḥmatika yā arḥam al-rāḥimin fī shahr Ramaḍān al-mubārak /9/ fī yawm al-ithnayn sanat tisʿ wa-sittīn wa-miʾatayn wa-alf min al-hijrah /10/ man lahu al-ʿizz wa-al-sharaf Allāhumma ṣalli ʿalá Muḥammad wa-<ā>lih ajmaʿin /11/
3. Comment: Colophon contains the name of the scribe, his birthplace, his residence, and the name of his teacher, as well as the date and place of copying

Paper

Laid European paper

Foliation: i+305+i

Catchwords: Written horizontally and obliquely on versos

Comments:

11.0 cm wide by 16.0 cm high

5.5 cm wide by 10.0 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 15

1. Title: al-Qurʾān
2. Scribe: Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿUmar
3. Text note: Codex misbound: colophon on fol. 257b is followed by chapter 43 (Sūrat al-Zukhruf), verse 12, which should follow fol. 245b
4. Hand note: Written in black vocalized Turkish naskh script with reading marks in red
5. Decoration note: Double-page illuminated frontispiece; illuminated colophon (fol. 257b); illuminated final prayer (fol. 305a); verse markers in the form of rosettes and disks; marginal decorations; chapter headings in white on a gold background; reading marks in red

fol. 1b:

1. 
2. Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece; incipit
4. Text: Chapter 1 (Sūrat al-fātiḥah)
5. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece inscribed with chapter 1 (Sūrat al-fātiḥah).

fol. 2a:

1. 
2. Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece; incipit
4. Text: Chapter 2 (Sūrat al-baqarah)
5. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece inscribed with the initial verses of chapter 2 (Sūrat al-baqarah).

fol. 257b:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated colophon
3. Form: Colophon; finispiece
4. Text: wa-bi-Allāh al-tawfīq /1/ katabahu al-faqīr al-ḥaqīr al-muḥtāj ilá raḥmat Rabbih al-Qadīr /2/ aḍʿaf al-khaṭṭāṭin al-maʿrūf bi-Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ bn ʿUmar /3/ mawlidhu maʿrūf fī Diyār al-Rūm bi-madīnat Kūmuljunah wa-maskanuhu /4/ bi-Madrasat Mulāzimlar fī qurb Ḥammām Sulaymānīyah fī al-Qusṭanṭinīyah /5/ wa-huwa min talāmīdh Amīn al-Bahjat wa-kāna taḥrīruhu maʿahu tisʿatan [sic] /6/ ghafara Allāh lahum wa-li-wālidayhim wa-li-man naẓara ilayhi wa-li-al-muʾminīn wa-al-muʾmināt /7/ wa-al-muslimīn wa-al-muslimāt al-aḥyāʾ minhum wa-al-amwāt /8/ bi-raḥmatika yā arḥam al-rāḥimin fī shahr Ramaḍān al-mubārak /9/ fī yawm al-ithnayn sanat tisʿ wa-sittīn wa-miʾatayn wa-alf min al-hijrah /10/ man lahu al-ʿizz wa-al-sharaf Allāhumma ṣalli ʿalá Muḥammad wa-<ā>lih ajmaʿin /11/
5. Label: This illuminated colophon, dated Ramaḍān 1269 AH / 1853 CE, contains significant information. In it, the scribe Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿUmar states that he was born in Kūmuljunah (Gümülcine, Komotini in northeastern Greece) and resided in the Madrasat Mulāzimlar, in the vicinity of Ḥammām Sulaymānīyah in al-Qusṭanṭinīyah (Istanbul). He also indicates being a pupil of Amīn al-Bahjat (Behcet).

fol. 305a:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated finispiece with final prayer
3. Form: Finispiece
4. Label: This illuminated finispiece is inscribed with a prayer to be recited after the last chapter of the Qur'an.

The binding is original.

Black leather (no flap); gold-painted borders and a floral design as a centerpiece

Gift of Robert L. Fox, 1990

Principal cataloger: Gacek, Adam

Catalogers: Landau, Amy; Smith, Sita

Copy 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.