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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy
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Qur'anic verses
AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: unknown
CREATED/PUBLISHED
11th-12th centuries
NOTES
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
Script: Kufi (New Style I)
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:
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)
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)
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)
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.
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)
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.
SUBJECT
Islamic manuscripts
Arabic calligraphy
Arabic script calligraphy
Islamic calligraphy
Kufi (New Style I)
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
MEDIUM
12.2 (w) x 17.6 (h) cm
CALL NUMBER
1-89-154.177ab
REPOSITORY
Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
DIGITAL ID
ascs 227
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.227
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