Unknown - Qur'an - Herat - 1460

Qur'an - Herat - Timurid - AD1460. This is a manuscript leaf from a Koran scribed shortly after Shah Rukh’s reign at a time of great political turmoil. It was relatively small for ease of carriage, thus was most likely for private use.

It contains scripture from the Medinian Chapter 45, Al-Jathiyah (The Kneeling) v.14-21, which focus on the themes of patience, accountability, the history of the Children of Israel, the establishment of Islamic Law (Sharia), and the ultimate distinction between righteous believers and evil-doers in the hereafter. Believers are instructed to exercise patience and forgiveness towards the disbelievers who do not believe in the Day of Judgment (the "Days of Allah"). This encourages maintaining high moral character and avoiding petty revenge. Verses 18-20 are where Allah ordains a specific, guided path of faith (Sharia) for Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, urging believers to follow this guidance and ignore the whims of those lacking knowledge.

The leaf contains 14 lines of evenly spaced and elegant naskhi script in black ink and in an educated calligraphic hand. Multiple free-hand 'aya' in a simple gold spiral mark out the verses . Two marginal on the right mark the 15th and 20th verses respectively. The leaf is fully framed in gold and blue lines.

There is some devotional use staining bottom left through page turning, and a little smudging to the centre of the folio, but otherwise this is a good clean copy and well preserved for its age dating from around the time of the fall of Constantinople to Islam in 1453.

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