Manuscript/Mixed Material Qur'anic Chapters 1 and 114
About this Item
Title
- Qur'anic Chapters 1 and 114
Created / Published
- 18th-19th centuries
Headings
- - Calligraphy, Arabic
- - Calligraphy, Persian
- - Manuscripts, Arabic--Washington (D.C.)
- - Iran
- - Arabic script calligraphy
- - Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
- - Islamic calligraphy
- - Islamic manuscripts
- - Qur'anic verses
- - Shikastah
Notes
- - Qur'anic Chapters 1 and 114 written in fine shikastah (literally, "broken") script during the 18th-19th centuries in Iran.
- - Below the Fatihah appears one of the shortest chapters of the Qur'an entitled Surat al-Nas (Mankind). It praises God as the Lord of Mankind (Malak al-Nas) and as the Protector from Satan (literally, the "Whisperer"):
- - Dimensions of Written Surface: 9.2 (w) x 14.5 (h) cm
- - In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. / Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds; / The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful; / Master of the Day of Judgment (yawm al-din). / You do we worship, and Your aid do we seek. / Show us the straight way, / The way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.
- - Say, I seek refuge with the Lord and Cherisher of Mankind, / the King of Mankind, / The God of Mankind, / From the mischief of the Whisperer (al-waswas) who withdraws / And who whispers in the hearts of mankind among the spirits and men.
- - These two short surahs from the Qur'an appear together here probably because they are short, easily memorized, and recited aloud. It is quite unusual, however, to find Qur'anic verses executed in shikastah, a very fluid script invented in Persia (Iran) by the 18th-century calligrapher Darvish 'Abd al-Majid al-Taliqani (Tavoosi 1987: 34-35). During the 18th and 19th centuries, Qur'ans were written in naskh or nasta'liq, as these scripts were more legible than shikastah. For this reason, this particular fragment stands out as scarce proof that some Qur'anic ayahs were executed in shikastah in Iran during the 18th-19th centuries.
- - This calligraphic fragment is executed in fine shikastah (literally, "broken") script and includes an initial bismillah and chapters (surahs) 1 and 114 of the Qur'an. At the top appears the first chapter of the Qur'an, entitled al-Fatihah (The Opening). It reads:
- - Script: shikastah
- - 1-84-154.55
Medium
- 1 volume ; 20.7 (w) x 29.7 (h) cm
Repository
- Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2019714604
Online Format
- image