Qur'an Manuscripts: Calligraphy, Illumination, DesignWhile the significance of the written word reverberates through both Judaism and Christianity, nowhere does the physical presence of scripture matter as much as it does in the Islamic world. Recent controversies over Qur’an desecration by U.S. military personnel serve to illustrate just how revered the book continues to be in Muslim culture. Proof of the devotion the book inspires can also be gleaned by examining the sumptuously produced illuminated Qur’an manuscripts reproduced in this volume. Arabic manuscript authority Colin Baker explores the central place of the Qur’an in Islamic society, but he also focuses on the manuscripts as physical objects, including a look at the celebrated calligraphy and the masterful artists who developed it. Numerous full-color images display the breadth of illumination styles and production materials used. Qur’an Manuscripts is a concise and readable overview of the long history of these manuscripts from across the wide Islamic world, from the eighth century to the end of the nineteenth, and from Spain to Southeast Asia. |
Contents
Contents | 7 |
Grand designs | 40 |
Quran manuscripts and the spread of Islam | 83 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
16th-century Qur'an 17th-century Chinese Qur'an Abdallah ibn Muhammad Arabic script Barquq basmalah Baybars Qur'an binding blue Cairo calligrapher calligraphy carpet page design carpet pages chapter headings colophon colours contain decorated pages early naskhi early Qur'ans eastern kufic fifth verse Il-Khanid illuminated band illumination incipit pages indicates the end Iraq kufic script layout lower panels ma'il ma'il Qur'an maghribi maghribi script Malay Mamluk Mamluk Qur'an mark the end mosque motif Muhammad multi-volume Muslim naskhi naskhi script number of verses originally in thirty ornate palmette Persia Qur'an manuscripts Qur'an text Qur'an written Qur'anic inscriptions roundels Samarqand scribe shamsah medallion sini script sixteenth-century Qur'an style Sultan Baybars tenth verse text pages thirty volumes thuluth thuluth script volume twenty-five vowel signs word الا الحمد الذي الله الرحمن الرحيم ان انا انه او پس چنین روز سورة على که لا لله ما من هم ولا وما يوم