Unknown - Qur'an - Morocco/Tunisia - 1825

A very attractive leaf from a Qur'an originating in North Africa C1825. It is written in free flowing Mahgribi script common to the region, and recognised in the calligraphy through the open curves and flourishes extending deep into the sub-linear area, occasionally touching the adjacent words. Its verticals and downstrokes are slightly curved to the left giving the script a unique grace. Diacritics ( guidance to the reader) and vowel points are red and green, inner margins in red with an outer blue. There is a stylised marginal in a palmetto motif in gold, red and green which marks the beginning of the new chapter (Surah). It is in excellent condition.

The manuscript contains the opening verses of the Meccan chapter 75, Al-Qiyamah (The 'Rising for' Judgement), v1-8. and the final verse of the preceding chapter above the Surah.

The chapter begins with, "I swear by the Day of Resurrection", and goes on to emphasize the certainty of life after death, affirm Allah’s power to reassemble human bones and fingertips, and warns against denying the afterlife. Specifically, verses 1-8 focus on the inevitability of the Day of Resurrection, the reality of the human conscience, and the dramatic, physical signs of the end of the world. The chapter was revealed to address those in Mecca who denied or mocked the idea of life after death.

This is a really interesting folio representing the calligraphic developments that took place in North Africa, or the Maghrib, comprising Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Art of the Maghrib is distinguished by a mystical quality drawing on the region’s symbols and signs that originate in pre-Islamic Berber motifs and a rich Islamic heritage introduced to the region by Arabs in the seventh century.

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