An early bound Qur’an section in Kufic script, North Africa or Near East, Umayyad, circa 700-750 AD

Ex-private collection, Germany, acquired in 1987

Comprising almost 200 leaves, this Qur’an section is copied in an early form of the Arabic script and is an important document of its transition from Hijazi into Kufic. So often surviving as single leaves, to have such a substantial section is eextremely rare, not least because it retains parts of an early binding. The manuscript provides important documentary evidence of the production of early Qur’an codices in this critical transitional period, which would go on to form a fully fledged Kufic that remained in use for centuries.

The text of this manuscript preserves over half of the Qur’an, beginning with surah al-Nisa (chapter 4, approximate halfway through juz' 5), around verse 101, and concluding at Surah Luqman (chapter 32, towards the end of juz’ 21). This would suggest the manuscript was conceived as a single-volume Qur’an. The type of Kufic script can be related to Déroche’s A and B classifications, but it also incorporates occasional elements that can be associated with its Hijazi forebears. The presence of ‘A’ features within the script is a hybridity that is unlikely to have been seen beyond the last quarter of the eighth century.

The manuscript merits a more detailed paleographical study, but some of the diagnostic letter forms within it are:

Alif: The isolated alif primarily follows styles A.I and B.II. In many cases it leans slightly to the left, a similar form to that of Khalili KFQ42 (Déroche 1983, no.5).

Jim/ha’/kha’: In its isolated form, it is of a ‘fish hook’ form close to that of Hijazi examples published in Fraser 2012, pp.131-2, fig.15. The initial form is closely related to the B.II type, with a wide slightly curved diagonal slope.

Qaf: The isolated form has a very shallow curve and a lean to the right, closely related to the A.I type, but shows some variations related to the more vertical stance of the B.Ia type.

Mim: In its medial form, the tails are generally horizontal but the rounded form dips just below the base line, corresponding to the B.II 

Nun: The final form has a slightly curved upwards turning terminal, like the A.I type.

Ha’: The ha’ letter tends to correspond variously between the B types, dipping below the base line.

Lam-alif: The left-leaning slant corresponds most closely to A.I and B.II.

Other letters of note include the Ta’ and Za’ which at times lean towards the right, showing an influence from Hijazi manuscripts (Déroche 1992, p.35). See Déroche 1992, pp.38-39 for a table of his A and B scripts. The organisation of the text area shows signs of discipline but there are variations reflective of a period when scribes were still grappling with the codification of the format.

Remarkably, the leaves retain parts of an early binding and are sewn together with traces of a leather spine. So few manuscripts of this age survive with a binding and this manuscript is an important addition to aid our understanding of the chronology of early binding practices. The earliest extant Islamic bindings date to the ninth century and were originally from the Great Mosque of Damascus, now in the Türk ve İslam Eserleri Müzesi, Istanbul (Ohta 2012, p.48, and Déroche 1986, pp.85-89). Ohta lists further loose bindings discovered at Qairawan and Sana’a which are generally ascribed to the tenth-thirteenth centuries (Ohta 2012, pp.48-52). Though a considerable number of loose covers remain, this manuscript importantly documents how the leaves were assembled.

The early replacement leaves at the end of the manuscript are produced in paper. Probably at the same time, some of the faded sides of the parchment were re-inked in a loose cursive hand. The manuscript must, therefore, have fallen in disrepair at a time when Kufic Qur’ans were still valued but paper was becoming more widespread, most likely in the tenth century.

The discovery of this manuscript is therefore critical to our understanding not just of the transition of the Arabic period in the first and second centuries of Islam, but of the assembly of early codices. For a discussion on Hijazi manuscripts, see lot 504 in the present sale.