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About this Item

Title

  • Qur'anic verses

Created / Published

  • 11th-12th centuries

Headings

  • -  Calligraphy, Arabic
  • -  Manuscripts, Arabic--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  Egypt
  • -  Syria
  • -  Arabic script calligraphy
  • -  Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Islamic calligraphy
  • -  Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Kufi (New Style I)

Notes

  • -  Qur'anic verses from the 11th chapter of the Qur'an (The Prophet Hud) and the 12th chapter the surah of Yusuf (Joseph). Written Kufi script (New Style I). Typical of 10th to 13th Cent. Qur'an's. (Egypt or Syria?)
  • -  All that we relate to you about the stories of messengers, / With it we make firm your heart. / In them Truth comes to you, / As well as an exhortation / and a message of remembrance to those who believe (11:120)
  • -  And O my people! Give just measure and weight, / Do not withhold from people the things that they are due. / Commit no evil in the land with intent to do mischief. (11: 85)
  • -  At the center of the verso of the first fragment appears the chapter heading of Surat Yusuf, executed in gold ink and outlined in black, specifying that the chapter contains 111 verses (ayahs). On the heading's side, a lightly painted blue and gold finial jets out into the folio's right margin as a visual marker for the beginning of a new chapter. Unfortunately, part of the finial is lost due to a later cropping of the folio's margin. Surat Yusuf narrates in detail the story of Joseph (similar but not identical to Genesis 37-50), sold into slavery by his brothers and later present at the Egyptian court. The narrative takes on symbolic proportions since it transforms into a parable for the search of true and divine love.
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: Recto: (a) 8.8 (w) x 13.2 (h) cm, (b) 9 (w) x 13.4 (h) cm. Dimensions of Written Surface: Verso: (a) 8.5 (w) x 13.3 (h) cm, (b) 8.5 (w) x 13.1 (h) cm
  • -  In the margins appear a number of decorative shapes: first a gold virgule and, in the center of the folio, a gold and blue roundel marked in the center with a the letter "waw." In the lower right corner of the first fragment there appears a small rectangular panel that repairs a lost portion of the paper and text.
  • -  The Day it arrives, no soul will speak except by His leave; / of those gathered some will be wretched and some blessed. / Those who are wretched will be in the Fire; / There will be for them nothing but the heaving of sighs and sobs (11:105-6)
  • -  The first verse of Surat Yusuf begins with the three mysterious letters alif-lam-ra (a-l-r), which initiate three other surahs (11,14, and 15). Some scholars believe that mystical meanings may be read into these abbreviated letters (al-muqatta'at). Within this context the combination "a-l-r" may be seen as an esoteric stand-in for God, since his epithet "the Merciful" (al-rahman) begins with the letters a, l, and r.
  • -  The text is executed in Kufi script (New Style I) with thick strokes of black ink, and vowels are marked by red dots. Some diagonal lines representing diacritical marks were added at a later date. Verse markers are very simple and are comprised of a filled gold central circle outlined by a thin external ring also executed in gold ink. The script is typical of Qur'ans executed during the 10th-13th centuries (Déroche 1992: 181-183, cat. no. 98)
  • -  These two calligraphic fragments include verses from the 11th chapter of the Qur'an entitled Hud (The Prophet Hud). The first fragment's verso includes verses (116-123) of Surat Hud, as well as the chapter heading and first four verses of the next (12th) surah entitled Yusuf (Joseph). Surat Hud provides a number of stories linked to the prophets (e.g., Noah and Moses), which stress the moral lessons learned through such narratives. Many verses are eschatological in character and warn of the punishment awaiting sinners:
  • -  Script: Kufi (New Style I)
  • -  1-89-154.177ab

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 12.2 (w) x 17.6 (h) cm

Repository

  • Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714563

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of Congress Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, African and Middle East Division, Near East Section Persian Manuscript Collection

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Chicago citation style:

Qur'anic Verses. 11th-12th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714563/.

APA citation style:

Qur'anic Verses. 11th-12th Centuries. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714563/.

MLA citation style:

Qur'anic Verses. 11th-12th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714563/>.