A bifolium from the ‘Five Surahs’ manuscript, copied by Abu Muhammad Abd al-Qayyum ibn Muhammad ibn Karamshah Tabrizi, Persia or Mesopotamia, probably Baghdad, Jalayrid, circa 1370

This large double-page comes from a manuscript known for its exquisite bold muhaqqaq script written in black ink outlined throughout in gold. It is known as the 'Five Surahs' manuscript, as the text comprises the five surahs that begin with the phrase ‘al-hamdu li-llah’ (see James 1992B, p.16). The five surahs concerned are surahs 1, 6, 18, 34, 35.

The name of the scribe, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Qayyum ibn Muhammad ibn Karamshah al-Tabrizi, is recorded on a detached folio from the manuscript in the Art and History Trust Collection, currently on long-term loan to the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C. (see Soudavar 1992, p.50, figs.1-2). No other signed works of this scribe are known, but the quality and power of the muhaqqaq here indicates that he was a master calligrapher, and the large size and rich illumination point to a royal or court patron. It has been suggested that it was produced for the Jalayrid Sultan Uways (r. 1356-74) at Baghdad about 1370 (Soudavar 1992, p.50).

A production date in the second half of the fourteenth century would accord with the style of the manuscript, whose calligraphy and illumination lie between the style of the royal Ilkhanid Qur’ans produced for Sultan Oljaytu in the early fourteenth century and the monumental Qur’ans of the early Timurid dynasty in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century, the greatest example of which was the so-called Baysunghur Quran (which was in fact more likely made for Timur himself).

The present folio measures 43.4 by 34.8cm, but the margins have been trimmed, as is evident from the tenth-verse medallion, which is cropped at the edge. Given the proportions of the page and the amount of trimming, the original size of the folios was probably at least 50 by 40cm, a size commensurate with a royal commission.

Other leaves from this manuscript are in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection (D. James, Qur'ans of the Mamluks, London, 1992, cat.1, p.16); The Art and Trust Collection, now on loan to the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C. (A. Soudavar, Art of the Persian Courts, Selections from the Art and History Trust Collection, New York, 1992, cat.19, p.50); The David Collection, Copenhagen (K. von Folsach, Islamic Art, The David Collection, Copenhagen, 1990, cat.6), and the Furusiyya Foundation Collection. For further illustrations see Islamic Calligraphy-Sacred and Secular Writings; Musée d'art et d'histoire, Geneva, 1988, nos.23a and 23b, pp.100-4); K. von Folsach, T. Lundbaek and P. Mortensen, Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal; The National Museum, Copenhagen, 1996, no.101; D. Roxburgh et al, Writing the word of God: calligraphy and the Qur’an, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, 2007, p.46-47, fig.20 ; A. Jaffer (ed.) Treasures from the Al Thani Collection, exhibition catalogue, The Palace Museum, Beijing, 2018, Vol.III, no.150, pp.385-5.

Further leaves from this Qur'an, including a bifolium, were sold in these rooms, 9 April 2008, lot 24; 8 October 2008, lots 18 and 19; 19 October 2016, lot 159; 31 March 2021, lot 7, and 26 October 2022, lot 15.