Unkown - Quran - India - 1548

An outstanding bi-folio miniature from an Indian Quran dated 1548/9., with each leaf consisting of 12 lines of fine Nashki scripture in black ink, including a chapter heading in the left folio written in red ink.

The bi-folio contains scripture from the final verses of chapters 57, Al-Hadid (Iron) and the first two verses of chapter 58 Al-Mujadilah (The Pleading Woman) . Surah Al-Hadid (The Iron), Chapter 57, verses 24-28, focuses on themes of spiritual sincerity, the purpose of divine guidance, the balance between material power and spiritual devotion, and the promise of double mercy for those who follow the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). Verses 1-2 of Surah Al-Mujadila (Chapter 58) in the Quran address the issue of Zihar—a pre-Islamic, unjust practice where a husband unfairly declared his wife unlawful for him by comparing her to his mother. This incident explains that God heard the woman’s complaint and forbidden this practice, declaring it a lie and setting severe penalties for anyone attempting it.

The leaf, whose script is contained within 8.5x4.5cm framed areas, is amazingly clear given its size. The scripture is written in the space between gold clouds which separate the lines of text and contains simple gold aya. The borders to the scripture are particularly decorative. An illuminated marginal in the left folio denotes the change of chapter, with a wonderful note beneath, calling out 'to the forgetful'.

Although described as 'fair' because of the minor damage (see figure 19g), which has been stabilised with archival paper, the overall condition remarkably good given that the bi-folio is close to 475 years old.

Please note that shipping costs are not solely the cost of the postal delivery service itself. Included within the shipping price is the work undertaken to prepare the article, for photography, for uploading to Catawiki, for preparation and packaging the article securely and for transporting the article to the postal delivery agent for processing.

Also, please consider when bidding on this lot that this artwork is shipped from the UK. Import duties will now have to be paid by the recipient to the Postal Service when the parcel arrives in your country. This will likely vary between 5% and 20% of the sale price depending on your country's Import Rate, so please check this if you are concerned. This is a Tax collected on behalf of your Government and is not an additional fee charged by us.