1 A large calligraphic Samanid pottery dish, Nishapur or Samarqand, 10th century

2 A large Qur'an leaf in muhaqqaq script on pink paper, Egypt, Mamluk, circa 728 AH/1327 AD

3 A Qur'an leaf in Kufic script on vellum, North Africa or Andalusia, 9th/10th century

4 A large calligraphic Samanid pottery bowl, Nishapur or Samarqand, 10th century

5 A Qur’an section in Eastern Kufic, Persia or Central Asia, Ghaznavid, circa 1092

6 A calligraphic pottery dish, Eastern Persia or Transoxiana, 10th century

7 A large bowl with an inscription in floriated Kufic, Eastern Persia or Transoxiana, 10th/11th century

8 An Abbasid pottery bowl with a Kufic Inscription, Iraq, 9th century

9 Abu Muhammad Al-Qasim ibn Ali Muhammad ibn Uthman Al-Hariri (d.1122), also known as al-Hariri al-Basri, al-Maqamat (second half), Near East, dated 2 Sha’ban 615 AH/24 October 1218 AD

10 Diya' al-Din Abu Muhammad ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmed al-Malaqi, known as Ibn Al-Baytar (d.1248 AD), Kitab al-jami' li-mufradat al-adwiyah wa'l-aghdhiyah ('The Compendium on Simple Drugs and Foodstuffs'), Near East, circa 1300

11 An illuminated miniature Qur'an in ghubar script, copied by Yahya ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Ja’fari al-Tayyari al-Baghdadi, known as ibn al-Nour, Mesopotamia, Jalayirid, dated Sha’ban 744 AH/December 1343 AD

12 ‘Abdallah ibn Ahmad ibn Mahmud al-Nasfi, Kitab al-musfa shareh manzuma, on Hanafi fiqh, Near East, dated end of 676 AH/1277-78 AD

13 A view of Mecca, India, Gujarat, Kutch, last quarter 18th century

14 A view of Medina, India, Gujarat, Kutch, last quarter 18th century

15 Abd al-Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Jama’ah al-Kinani I'zz al-Din Abu Omar (d.1365-66), Kitab al-mukhtasar al-kabir fi sirah al-Rasul (a biography of The Prophet), Near East, Mamluk, late 14th/15th century

16 A pair of Ottoman silk calligraphic textiles from the Tomb of the Prophet Muhammad, Turkey, 17th/18th century

17 Zayn al-Din Jurjani (d.1136 AD), Zakhirah-i Khwarazmshahi ('Treasury dedicated to the King of Khwarazmshahi'), an encyclopaedia of medical science, books VII-X, copied by Faseeh ibn Afsah ibn Ahmed ibn Masoud al-Burwajurdi, Persia, Timurid, dated 835 AH/1431-32 AD

18 Abu ‘Ali al-Husayn ibn ‘Abdallah ibn al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Sina, known as Avicenna (d.1037), Kitab qanun fi’l tibb (The Canon of Medicine), Near East, probably Beirut, 1856, A rare complete copy of Ibn Sina’s Qanun, transcribed from the Typographia Medicaea’s copy dated 1593.

19 A compilation of Arab literary texts, Iraq or Near East, giving the name Yaq'ut al-Musta'simi, 13th/14th century, with later illumination, Mughal India or Safavid Persia, 16th/17th century

20 An illuminated collection of prayers, copied by Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Qadir ibn ‘Ali ibn Yusuf al-Fasi, North Africa or Andalusia, dated 1007 AH/1598-99 AD

21 Three Qur’an ajza’ (XI, XV and XX), Persia or Turkey, Safavid or Ottoman, circa 1600

22 A miniature illuminated Qur’an, India, Sultanate, 15th/16th century

23 An illuminated miniature Qur’an, copied by ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Ashur, Persia, Qajar, dated 1235 AH/1819-20 AD

24 An illuminated Qur'an Juz' (XX), ascribed to Immatullah, China, dated 1033 AH/1623 AD

25 An illuminated Qur’an, Persia, Safavid and Qajar, second half 16th and 19th century

26 An illuminated Qur’an juz’ (XXX), copied by Muhammad ibn Hasan, known as Kamal, Persia, Safavid, dated 930 AH/1523-24 AD

27 Ashab-i bedir, the Companions of the Battle of Badr, copied by Ahmad al-Shawqi (Ahmed Şevki) Efendi, student of the palace tutor Muhammad al-Rushdi (Mehmed Rüşdü), Ottoman Turkey, dated 1257 AH/1841-2 AD

28 An illuminated Qur'an, copied by Muhammad al-Said al-Qanawi, Turkey, Ottoman, probably Konya, dated rabi' II 1150 AH/1737 AD

29 A large Ottoman illuminated genealogical scroll (silsilname), period of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (r.1520-66), Turkey, circa 1560

30 A large illuminated Qur’an, India, Mughal, early 18th century

31 A Ruzname (official calendar) prepared by Chief Astrologer (Müneccim-Bashi) Osman Saib Efendi, for Sultan Abdulaziz (r.1861-76), Turkey, Ottoman, drawn up on Nawruz, Friday 20 Ramadan 1278 AH/21 March 1862 AD

32 An illuminated Qur’an, North India, Kashmir, 19th century

33 An illuminated Qur’an, commissioned by Mukhbir al-Dawlah, the Minister of Science and copied by Muhammad al-Musawi known as Hindi, Persia, Qajar, dated 1305 AH/1887-88 AD

34 Shaykh Muslih al-Din Sa'di (d.1291-92), Kulliyat (Collected Works), Persia, Qajar, 19th century

35 Hafiz (d.1390), Diwan, commissioned by Muhammad Ja’far Khan, copied by Fath'ali al-Shirazi, pen-named Hijab, in the Dar al-‘Ilm, Shiraz, Qajar Persia, dated 1267 AH/1850-51 AD.

36 A compilation of summaries of treaties concluded between Persia and Britain, France and Russia, prepared for Farrokh Khan Ghaffari, Persia, Tehran, Qajar, mid-19th century

37 An illuminated Qur’an on green paper, North India, dated 1311 AH/1893-94 AD

38 Nizami (d.1209), Khamsa, copied by Khwaja Mir ibn Shams al-Din Muhammad Munshi Astarabadi, Persia, Safavid, dated 966 AH/1558-9 AD

39 An illuminated page from a divan of Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara, with découpage nasta'liq calligraphy, Eastern Persia, Herat, circa 1490

40 Firdausi, abridged Shahnameh, India, sub-imperial Mughal, circa 1650 and later

41 ‘Abdullah Ansari, The Nasa’ih (Councils), copied by Shah Mahmud Nishapuri, Persia, Tabriz, Safavid, dated 953 AH/1546-47 AD

42 An illuminated leaf from the Farhang-i Jahangiri (Persian dictionary) of Jalal al-Din Husain Inju, India, Mughal, first quarter 17th century

43 An illustrated and illuminated leaf from a manuscript of Firdausi's Shahnameh: Zahhak wounds Jamshid in battle, Persia, Shiraz, Safavid, mid-16th century

44 An illustrated and illuminated leaf from the Tarikh-i 'alam-ara-yi Abbasi of Iskander Bayg Munshi: the Uzbek army storms the fort of Isfarain, Persia, Isfahan, Safavid, circa 1650

45 A European crusader on horseback, India, Mughal, circa 1600

46 An illustration from Prince Khurram's Album: Two musicians playing, India, Mughal, circa 1600-10, the calligraphy signed by Khurram (later known as Shah Jahan), dated 1016 AH/1607-08 AD

47 A rider attacking stampeding elephants, India, Mughal, 17th century

48 An illustration to a Ragamala series: Vasant Ragini, India, Sub-imperial Mughal, circa 1630