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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy
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Qur'anic verses (4: 94-100, 100-105)
AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: unknown
CREATED/PUBLISHED
12th century
NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: Recto: 22 (w) x 28.5 (h) cm
Dimensions of Written Surface: Verso: 22.3 (w) x 28.5 (h) cm
Script: eastern Kufi
This Qur'anic fragment contains verses 94-100 of the fourth chapter of the Qur'an entitled al-Nisa' (The Women). The surah addresses the social problems faced by the Muslim community and the necessity to establish law and order through regulated communal practice. It deals largely with women, orphans, inheritance, marriage, and family rights. These particular verses (94-100) recommend leaving places hostile to Islam and praise believers who keep their faith when abroad as stated in the Qur'an: " He who forsakes his home in the cause of God finds in the earth many a refuge, wide and spacious. Should he die a refugee from home, for God and Muhammad his reward becomes due." (4:100).
The verso of this fragment includes verses 100-105 from the fourth chapter of the Qur'an entitled al-Nisa' (The Women). These verses continue those (94-100) found on its recto (see 1-87-154.134 R). Verses 100-105 discuss religious duties during periods of war and suggest that prayer should, at these times, be carried out with vigilance as stated in the Qur'an: "And let the other party come up and let them pray with you, taking all precautions and bearing arms." (4:102).
These verses are executed on brown paper in a script known as eastern Kufi. During the 10th-13th centuries, Kufi script underwent some variations in eastern Islamic lands (i.e. Iraq and Persia) that set it apart from its western equivalents (see AL-18). Many of the letters are drawn out at the vertical, bear sharpened angles, and slightly incline, thus giving this script the name "bent Kufi." The elongation of the letters occurred at the same time as Qur'ans began to be produced in vertical format (rather than oblong, as used for the early and some western Kufi Qur'ans) and the writing surface changed from vellum to paper (Lings and Safadi 1976, 32). Qur'ans in eastern Kufi script such as this fragment typically are executed on medium brown paper.
Many Qur'ans written in eastern Kufi, such as this example, bear the complete vowelling system invented by al-Khalil b. Ahmad (Zakariya 1979, 19), which set the standard for Arabic orthography for the centuries to come. Unlike earlier Kufi Qur'ans, diagonal slashes representing vowels begin to replace round dots. On this folio, verse markers are almost unnoticeable: they consist of small red circles with a plain center and appear as if added at a later date (as seen in the middle of line four). Large gold verse markers, however, are also used in this Qur'an (see 1-87-154.134 V). At the center of the left margin appears a scalloped virgule painted in yellow, outlined in brown ink, and provided with several blue dots to mark the section (juz') of the text. On the verso, diacritical marks appear as diagonals executed in dark brown ink, while most of the verse markers consist of plain red circles perhaps added at a later date. Some recitation markers and signs for stops ('alamat al-waqf) are also added in red ink. One large ayah marker appears in the middle of the fourth line: it consists of a scalloped roundel executed in brown ink with a central ornamental design in yellow and black (Selim 1979, 160). Unlike the red circular verse markers, this roundel appears to be original to the manuscript and separates verse 101 from 102.
SUBJECT
Islamic calligraphy
Arabic calligraphy
Islamic manuscripts
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Arabic script calligraphy
Eastern kufi
MEDIUM
27 (w) x 32.7 (w) cm
CALL NUMBER
1-87-154.134
REPOSITORY
Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
DIGITAL ID
ascs 162
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.162
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