A large album of leaves from dispersed manuscripts of the Qur'an, written in eastern kufic, thuluth, muhaqqaq and naskhi scripts, and calligraphic specimen pages, Persia, 12th-14th Century

Arabic manuscript on paper, laid down on later gold-sprinkled card mounts, 23 pages, comprising (in order): six leaves of calligraphic specimens in thuluth, muhaqqaq and naskhi script; 14 leaves from a manuscript of the Qur'an written in eastern kufic script, Persia, 13th Century, 18 lines to the page; 4 leaves from a manuscript of the Qur'an, Persia, 12th Century, 9 lines to the page; one leaf from a manuscript of the Qur'an, 11 lines to the page, Persia, 12th Century; one leaf from a manuscript of the Qur'an, Persia, 12th Century, five lines to the page
album 500 x 335 mm.

Provenance
Christie's, Islamic Art and Manuscripts, 11th April 2000, lot 57.
The estate of a distinguished Iranian academic, California, USA.

The album consists of:
A. Recto: sections excised from different manuscripts in various styles, one copied by Abd al-Baqi al-Mawlawi (unrecorded), and dated AH 1021/AD 1612-13; verso: sections copied from qasidah al-Burdah, with a colophon giving the name of the scribe Haji Maqsud known as Maftul-band (unrecorded), for a certain Nur al-Din Muhammad, in Shiraz, 11th Rajab 980/17th November 1572.
B. Sections excised from a book of sayings, one attributed to Imam 'Ali.
C. Sections excised from a book of sayings attributed to Imam 'Ali.

D. Leaves from a Qur'an in eastern kufic script:
1. sura XXXIX, al-Zumar, The Crowds, verse 5 to part of verse 23.
2. sura VI, al-An'am, The Cattle, part of verse 24 to part of verse 44.
3. sura XXXV, al-Fatir, The Originator of Creation, or al-Malaika, The Angels, part of verse 14 to part of verse 39.
4. sura XL, Mu'min, The Believer, part of verse 37 to end of verse 59.
5. sura XXXIV, Saba', The City of Saba', part of verse 9 to part of verse 29.
6. sura XXXIII, al-Ahzab, The Confederate, part of verse 48 to end of verse 59.
7. sura XXXVI, Ya Sin (being abbreviated letters), part of verse 20 to part of verse 56.
8. sura V, al-Ma'ida, The Table Spread, part of verse 6 to part of verse 18.
9. sura V, al-Ma'ida, The Table Spread, part of verse 36 to part of verse 48.
10. sura VI, al-An'am, The Cattle, part of verse 44 to part of verse 63.
11. sura XXXVII, al-Saffat, Those Ranged in Ranks, part of verse 77 to end of verse 141.
12. sura IV, al-Nisa'a, The Women, part of verse 76 to part of verse 90.
13. sura IV, al-Nisa'a, The Women, part of verse 102 to part of verse 120.
14. sura XXXIX, al-Zumar, The Crowds, part of verse 23 to part of verse 47.

E. Four leaves, Persia, 12th Century:
15. sura XL, al-Mu'min, The Believer, part of verse 11 to part of verse 21.
16–17. sura XLIII, al-Zukhruf, part of verse 63 to end of verse 89; and sura XLIV, al-Dukhan, Smoke or Mist, heading in gold, verse 1 to part of verse 7.
18. sura XL, al-Mu'min, The Believer, part of verse 21 to end of verse 28.

F. One leaf, Persia, 12th Century:
19. sura LXXX, 'Abasa, He Frowned, verse 4 to the end of verse 42; and sura LXXXI, al-Takwir, The Folding Up, heading in gold, verse 1 to part of verse 7.

G. One leaf, Persia, 12th Century:
20. sura II, al-Baqara, The Heifer, part of verse 66 to part of verse 70.

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