An early Qur'an folio,
in Hijazi script.
Stock Code 111063
Arabia, mid- 7th century AD.
POA
One of the oldest extant qur'anic manuscripts. An important witness to the earliest extant qur'anic manuscripts and a relic of the earliest period in islam, copied only a few decades after the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century ad.
Early history of the Qur'an and Islam:
Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the verbatim revelations received to The Prophet Muhammad from Allah. Before the Qur'an was copied into written form it was memorised by heart from the followers of The Prophet Muhammad during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr (633-34 AD). After the death of The Prophet Muhammad wars were killing Muslims that had memorised the sacred words so to preserve the text Zayn ibn Thabit, a secretary of The Prophet Muhammad, collated the Qur'an onto sheets. Then during the Caliphate of 'Uthman (644-56 AD) the decision was made to produce a definitive codex of the holy text to unify the believers and prevent future disputes among the believers. It is accepted that the definitive and authorised version of the Qur'an was produced around 650 AD and certainly before the death of 'Uthman in 656 AD.
The script:
The term Hijazi, meaning from Hijaz, refers to the geographical region of the Hijaz in the Arabian Peninsula. This was the area in which The Prophet Muhammad unified the Arabian tribes with Islam in the early 7th century, and includes Mecca and Medina. Hijazi script refers to the earliest examples of Qur'anic script produced in this period which also marks a very important milestone in the evolution of the Arabic language and its development in written form.
One of the primary characteristics of the early Hijazi script is the vertical stretching of the letters, and the infrequent use of diacritics or vowels. Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf, who died in 714 AD, created a comprehensive system by which diacritics and vowels could be endorsed in the forms of dots or vertical dashes. Therefore, the absence of these diacritics in the present leaf is a strong indication that it was copied before these developments in the Arabic language and place its production firmly in the 7th century. Furthermore, Abu'l-Aswad al-Du'ali, who died in 688 AD, was responsible for a prior development that included coloured dots as an indication of vowels – there are no such markings in the present example, indicating an even earlier date of production (before 688 AD).
The progressive developments in the script, Arabic language and spread of Islam later in the 8th century allowed for aesthetic considerations and formal structures in the copying of the holy text, resulting in the emergence of Kufic script. Thus, Qur'ans produced during the later Abbasid period had a very different aesthetic and visual appearance to those produced only a century prior. The primary focus of the early Islamic scribes in the 7th century was to produce a faithful reproduction of the holy text in the interest of preserving it, resulting in irregularities in the lines per page, folio sizes, column widths, line lengths and other such codicological details. These variations make it difficult to attribute any singular Hijazi fragment to a particular named Qur'an from the 7th century.
Hijazi Qur'ans:
The majority of surviving Hijazi Qur'an fragments are in the form of single leaves currently housed in a small number of museums, libraries and private collections worldwide. Although many of these fragments have been published, the inconsistencies in orthography and line spacing in these early folios make it difficult to identify precisely how many codices were first copied in those early decades, however it is accepted that there were likely 4 or 5 produced (under the supervision of one of the Prophet's secretaries Zayd ibn Thabit) before distribution to wider areas to spread Islam. The exact list of cities to have received a copy is uncertain, however it is likely that there were at least four or five produced (these likely for Mecca, Damascus, Basra and Kufa, with one probably retained by Medina).
To date, four definitively 7th century Hijazi Qur'ans have been identified. These are the Codex Parisino-petropolitanus (Bibliotheque Nationale de France, BnF Arabe 328, which includes 36 folios with other single folios recorded at the Vatican, Khalili Collections and the National Library of Russia), The Birmingham manuscript (2 folios, The Cadbury Research Library, Birmingham University), The Sana'a Manuscript (38 folios in the Dar al-Makhtutat library, Yemen, and other single folios recorded in European and private libraries), and Codex M a VI 165 (77 folios The Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Germany).
The present example is most comparable to the Sana'a manuscript in its overall aesthetic: there are 22 lines in the present leaf and most of the Sana'a leaves contain 21-23 lines per page and the verses are marked with clusters of 4-6 dots in both instances. However, the Sana'a manuscript is a palimpsest containing an upper and lower text (which is only visible under ultraviolet light), and although there is no evidence to suggest that the present leaf is a palimpsest, there are notable similarities to sections of the lower text of the Sana'a manuscript. The infrequent use of the alif character and the reduced use of dots in the consonants are both features that are in keeping with linguistic characteristics identified in the lower text of the Sana'a manuscript.
In their article Sana'a and the History of the Qur'an, Sadeghi and Goudarzi note: "The lower text of San'ā' 1 is at present the most important document for the history of the Qur'ān. As the only known extant copy from a textual tradition beside the standard 'Uthmānic one, it has the greatest potential of any known manuscript to shed light on the early history of the scripture". Furthermore, they note "In addition, the orthographic and paleographic differences between the two layers are consistent with their being separated by a period long enough for the codex to have been worn out: though both scripts are Hijazi, the upper writing is more compact, uses more alifs, and uses more dots for distinguishing the consonants. Alternatively, part of the lower codex may have been damaged in an accident. As a third possibility, the fact that the lower writing belongs to a non'Uthmanic textual tradition may have been the motive… These explanations, of course, are not mutually exclusive" (Sadeghi, Behnam and Goudarzi, Mohsen. San'ā' 1 and the Origins of the Qur'ān, Der Islam, vol. 87, no. 1-2, 2012, pp. 1-129).
Without comparative carbon dating reports and scientific analysis of these early fragments, it is virtually impossible to conclusively identify precisely the association of this leaf to any singular parental manuscript. However, the paleographic and orthographic evidence available strongly indicates that this leaf is most strongly associated with the cache of early leaves from which the Sana'a and other early Qur'ans were collated.
The survival of a fragment from this extremely early period in Islamic manuscript production is extraordinary. The small cache of comparable folios from this early chapter in Islamic studies and Arabic calligraphy still require much in the way of academic research and therefore the addition of this leaf to the other known manuscript fragments is important. Furthermore, opportunities to acquire such early Qur'anic material are very infrequent with the majority of other examples already housed in museums and libraries.
Single leaf, decorated manuscript on parchment, in Arabic, containing the text from Qur'an Juz' VII, sura al-A'raf, parts of vv. 169-194, fragmentary leaf, c. 335 x 230 mm; single column, 22 lines of sepia hijazi script to both sides, verse marked by clusters of 4 or 6 dots, a few words overwritten in a later hand, areas of loss to folio.
Early history of the Qur'an and Islam:
Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the verbatim revelations received to The Prophet Muhammad from Allah. Before the Qur'an was copied into written form it was memorised by heart from the followers of The Prophet Muhammad during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr (633-34 AD). After the death of The Prophet Muhammad wars were killing Muslims that had memorised the sacred words so to preserve the text Zayn ibn Thabit, a secretary of The Prophet Muhammad, collated the Qur'an onto sheets. Then during the Caliphate of 'Uthman (644-56 AD) the decision was made to produce a definitive codex of the holy text to unify the believers and prevent future disputes among the believers. It is accepted that the definitive and authorised version of the Qur'an was produced around 650 AD and certainly before the death of 'Uthman in 656 AD.
The script:
The term Hijazi, meaning from Hijaz, refers to the geographical region of the Hijaz in the Arabian Peninsula. This was the area in which The Prophet Muhammad unified the Arabian tribes with Islam in the early 7th century, and includes Mecca and Medina. Hijazi script refers to the earliest examples of Qur'anic script produced in this period which also marks a very important milestone in the evolution of the Arabic language and its development in written form.
One of the primary characteristics of the early Hijazi script is the vertical stretching of the letters, and the infrequent use of diacritics or vowels. Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf, who died in 714 AD, created a comprehensive system by which diacritics and vowels could be endorsed in the forms of dots or vertical dashes. Therefore, the absence of these diacritics in the present leaf is a strong indication that it was copied before these developments in the Arabic language and place its production firmly in the 7th century. Furthermore, Abu'l-Aswad al-Du'ali, who died in 688 AD, was responsible for a prior development that included coloured dots as an indication of vowels – there are no such markings in the present example, indicating an even earlier date of production (before 688 AD).
The progressive developments in the script, Arabic language and spread of Islam later in the 8th century allowed for aesthetic considerations and formal structures in the copying of the holy text, resulting in the emergence of Kufic script. Thus, Qur'ans produced during the later Abbasid period had a very different aesthetic and visual appearance to those produced only a century prior. The primary focus of the early Islamic scribes in the 7th century was to produce a faithful reproduction of the holy text in the interest of preserving it, resulting in irregularities in the lines per page, folio sizes, column widths, line lengths and other such codicological details. These variations make it difficult to attribute any singular Hijazi fragment to a particular named Qur'an from the 7th century.
Hijazi Qur'ans:
The majority of surviving Hijazi Qur'an fragments are in the form of single leaves currently housed in a small number of museums, libraries and private collections worldwide. Although many of these fragments have been published, the inconsistencies in orthography and line spacing in these early folios make it difficult to identify precisely how many codices were first copied in those early decades, however it is accepted that there were likely 4 or 5 produced (under the supervision of one of the Prophet's secretaries Zayd ibn Thabit) before distribution to wider areas to spread Islam. The exact list of cities to have received a copy is uncertain, however it is likely that there were at least four or five produced (these likely for Mecca, Damascus, Basra and Kufa, with one probably retained by Medina).
To date, four definitively 7th century Hijazi Qur'ans have been identified. These are the Codex Parisino-petropolitanus (Bibliotheque Nationale de France, BnF Arabe 328, which includes 36 folios with other single folios recorded at the Vatican, Khalili Collections and the National Library of Russia), The Birmingham manuscript (2 folios, The Cadbury Research Library, Birmingham University), The Sana'a Manuscript (38 folios in the Dar al-Makhtutat library, Yemen, and other single folios recorded in European and private libraries), and Codex M a VI 165 (77 folios The Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Germany).
The present example is most comparable to the Sana'a manuscript in its overall aesthetic: there are 22 lines in the present leaf and most of the Sana'a leaves contain 21-23 lines per page and the verses are marked with clusters of 4-6 dots in both instances. However, the Sana'a manuscript is a palimpsest containing an upper and lower text (which is only visible under ultraviolet light), and although there is no evidence to suggest that the present leaf is a palimpsest, there are notable similarities to sections of the lower text of the Sana'a manuscript. The infrequent use of the alif character and the reduced use of dots in the consonants are both features that are in keeping with linguistic characteristics identified in the lower text of the Sana'a manuscript.
In their article Sana'a and the History of the Qur'an, Sadeghi and Goudarzi note: "The lower text of San'ā' 1 is at present the most important document for the history of the Qur'ān. As the only known extant copy from a textual tradition beside the standard 'Uthmānic one, it has the greatest potential of any known manuscript to shed light on the early history of the scripture". Furthermore, they note "In addition, the orthographic and paleographic differences between the two layers are consistent with their being separated by a period long enough for the codex to have been worn out: though both scripts are Hijazi, the upper writing is more compact, uses more alifs, and uses more dots for distinguishing the consonants. Alternatively, part of the lower codex may have been damaged in an accident. As a third possibility, the fact that the lower writing belongs to a non'Uthmanic textual tradition may have been the motive… These explanations, of course, are not mutually exclusive" (Sadeghi, Behnam and Goudarzi, Mohsen. San'ā' 1 and the Origins of the Qur'ān, Der Islam, vol. 87, no. 1-2, 2012, pp. 1-129).
Without comparative carbon dating reports and scientific analysis of these early fragments, it is virtually impossible to conclusively identify precisely the association of this leaf to any singular parental manuscript. However, the paleographic and orthographic evidence available strongly indicates that this leaf is most strongly associated with the cache of early leaves from which the Sana'a and other early Qur'ans were collated.
The survival of a fragment from this extremely early period in Islamic manuscript production is extraordinary. The small cache of comparable folios from this early chapter in Islamic studies and Arabic calligraphy still require much in the way of academic research and therefore the addition of this leaf to the other known manuscript fragments is important. Furthermore, opportunities to acquire such early Qur'anic material are very infrequent with the majority of other examples already housed in museums and libraries.
Single leaf, decorated manuscript on parchment, in Arabic, containing the text from Qur'an Juz' VII, sura al-A'raf, parts of vv. 169-194, fragmentary leaf, c. 335 x 230 mm; single column, 22 lines of sepia hijazi script to both sides, verse marked by clusters of 4 or 6 dots, a few words overwritten in a later hand, areas of loss to folio.
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