Folio from a Qur’an, Sura 48:6-9

Detached folio from a dispersed copy of the Qur’an; recto: Sura al-Fath (Victory) 48: part of 6, 7; verso: sura 48:7, 8 and the beginning of 9, verso begins with “junud”; Arabic in black kufic script; gold orbs stacked as pyramid-shaped verse markers; vocalized in red, yellow, green, and blue; one column; 7 lines of text; one of a group of 13 folios.

Historical period(s)
Abbasid period, 8th-9th century
Medium
Ink, color, and gold on parchment
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 23.8 x 33.7 cm (9 3/8 x 13 1/4 in)
Geography
North Africa or Near East
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1930.64
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Manuscript folio

Keywords
Abbasid period (750 - 1258), Islam, Near East, North Africa, Qur'an, sura 48
Provenance

To 1930
Elizabeth T. Riefstahl, to 1930 [1]

From 1930
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Elizabeth T. Riefstahl in 1930 [2]

Notes:

[1] Object file, undated folder sheet note.

[2] See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Elizabeth T. Riefstahl

Description

Detached folio from a dispersed copy of the Qur'an; recto: Sura al-Fath (Victory) 48: part of 6, 7; verso: sura 48:7, 8 and the beginning of 9, verso begins with "junud"; Arabic in black kufic script; gold orbs stacked as pyramid-shaped verse markers; vocalized in red, yellow, green, and blue; one column; 7 lines of text; one of a group of 13 folios.

Label

This folio, notable for its restrained elegance, is from the Qur'an's forty-eighth chapter (sura), titled The Victory (Al-Fatih). Small gold medallions in pyramidal form indiate verse endings, while diacritics appear in red. The verses read as follows:


Allah's are the hosts of the heavens and the earth,
and Allah is ever Mighty, Wise.
Lo, we have sent you [the Prophet Muhammad] as a witness <BR>and a bearer of good tidings and a warner.
That you may believe....

Published References
  • David Summers. Real Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western Modernism. New York, 2003. p. 399, fig. 186.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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