Codicology of Qurʾānic Manuscripts (22) Kufic Qurʾān Attributed to the Hand of Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq Preserved at the Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyya , A Work from Third- and Fourth-Century AH Khorasan
Document Type : pajoohesh
Author
10.22081/jap.2025.77772
Abstract
The Kufic Qurʾānic manuscript cataloged as « Maṣāḥif 1 » at the Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyya (National Library of Egypt) is among the significant artifacts in the history of Qurʾānic transcription from the late third or early fourth century AH. Unlike other early Kufic codices of the second and third centuries AH, this manuscript was penned in a vertical format, and its script inclines toward the New Style known as Eastern or Iranian Kufic. Several pieces of evidence reinforce the likelihood that it was produced in the eastern regions of Iran, particularly Khorasan. Among these indications is that the orthography of the text does not adhere to the traditional rasm al-muṣḥaf, a phenomenon that first emerged in Iran during the third century AH. Additionally, the scribe does not employ scriptio continua and avoids dividing words at the end of lines, a practice that also originated in Iran in the second and third centuries AH. Furthermore, the manuscript’s internal ornamentation and illuminated sūra-headings bear striking similarities to other Iranian Qurʾānic codices of the third and fourth centuries AH. Beyond these features, the manuscript’s producers applied two systems of vocalization – that of Abū al-Aswad al-Duʾalī and that of Khalīl b. Aḥmad – and incorporated not only the canonical variants (al-qirāʾāt al-sabʿa wal-ʿashra) but also some non-canonical readings (shawādhdh). Altogether, the codex’s paleographic, artistic, and textual features render it one of the most significant – and perhaps unique – witnesses for understanding the history of Qurʾānic transcription and recitation, particularly in Iran during the late third and early fourth centuries AH. The present article, as the first attempt to introduce and examine this ancient Qurʾānic manuscript, seeks to highlight its historical significance and its artistic, textual, and material characteristics.
Keywords
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