Unknown - Qur'an - Herat - 1460

Qur'an - Herat - Timurid - AD1460. This Quranic manuscript folio was scribed shortly after Shah Rukh’s reign at a time of great political turmoil. It is an unusual folio in that if contains 4 marginal medallions on the same page and thus rare.

The folio contains scripture from chapter 69, Surah al-Haqqah (The Inevitable Hour), v.19-39. These verses vividly portray the Day of Judgment and contrast the final outcomes of the righteous and the wicked based on their earthly deeds. Key Themes of Verses 19–39 are:

The Right-Hand Group (Verses 19–24): Those who receive their record of deeds in their right hand rejoice with a clear conscience, proudly telling others to read their account because they always believed this Day of Reckoning would come. They are rewarded with a blissful life in Paradise with easy access to fruits and pleasant food.

The Left-Hand Group (Verses 25–37): Those who receive their record in their left hand feel deep regret, wishing they had never died or faced their account. They realize their worldly wealth and power failed to save them. God commands that they be bound, shackled, and cast into a blazing fire for failing to believe in God and refusing to feed the poor.

The Divine Oath (Verses 38–39): God swears an oath by what humans can see and what they cannot see, setting up the validation of the Quran's divine message in the immediately following verses.

The folio has evenly spaced and elegant script containing 14 lines of scripture broken. Free-hand 'aya' in a simple gold spiral mark out the verses. Unusually the folio contains four marginal roundels stacked along its outer edge, alternating gold ground and lapis blue ground, each filled with fine scrolling and arabesque ornament. These mark the 20,25,30 and 35th divisions of the chapter. The folios is fully framed in gold and blue lines. There is clear devotional use through page turning lower left, but otherwise this is a good clean copy and very well preserved for its age.

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