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A miniature leaf from a much used and frail Quran originating in the state of Bihar, India, circa 1425. It contains scripture from the Meccan chapter 25, Al-Furqan (The Decisive Authority), v:70-77, the header of the following chapter  Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets) v:1-7. Two illuminated roundels mark verses 75 of chapter 25 and the header and verse 5 of chapter 26. 

The quote "Our Lord grant from among our spouses and offspring strength. Amen. And make us among the righteous" in v:74 of Surah Al-Furqan is a key prayer from the righteous. The full verse asks Allah for comfort in spouses and offspring, and to be a leader for the righteous. The first verses of Chapter 26 provide a warning to disbelievers and begins, Ta-Sin-Min. These are the verses of the clear Book. God then addresses the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), acknowledging his deep grief over the disbelievers' rejection of his message, and states that He has the power to send a sign from heaven that would humble them. The verses also lament that whenever a reminder comes from the Merciful Lord, they turn away from it. 

It is written in a distinctive style of script called Bihari (after the State), characterised by wide, heavy and extended horizontal lines, and thin verticals. In this case there are 13 lines of fine script, superseded by a distinctive Chapter heading and an illuminated marginal marking the beginning of the new Chapter. Simple gold 'aya' marking the verses and red diacriticals providing devotional direction. Any reference to 'Allah' is in gold leaf. 

Because Bihar is a warm and humid province, manuscripts from there, do not generally keep well. This bi-folio has survived well, some damp staining and minor smudging. There has been structural support applied to the margins some time ago to keep the folio sound (see image 20e -reverse).  There are multiple references to Allah's (written in Gold) omnipotence. 

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 do 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. 



Manuscript

Unknown - Qur'an - Bihar India - 1425

Historical Memorabilia

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Unknown - Qur'an - Bihar India - 1425

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