Handwritten Illuminated 19th Century Qur’an by Muhammad an-Nuri · McKay Library Special Collections

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Handwritten Illuminated 19th Century Qur’an by Muhammad an-Nuri

Identifier	BOK.MDE.AD19C.1
Title	Handwritten Illuminated 19th Century Qur’an by Muhammad an-Nuri
Alternative Title	Gold Qur'an
Description	Holding true to the belief that only Allah can create anthropomorphic images, Muslim calligraphers and illuminators turned handwritten Qur’an’s such as this into its own work of art. The artistic embellishments served as a devotion to deity, as the written words from the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) were considered the presence of Allah. This Qur’an is written in naskh script, which translates to “to copy,” as it was the primary script used to copy the Qur’an. There are two parts of a Qur’an which are usually illuminated more than the rest: the opening and closing Sūrah’s. The opening frontispieces “are sometimes referred to as ‘carpet’ pages since their appearance resembles oriental carpets. In architectural terms, opening a Qur’an volume might be compared to entering a sacred building, with the carpet page as the gateway or portal to the holy text itself” (Baker). This Qur’an, “written by the master calligrapher Muhammad an-Nuri… [under] his teacher Muhammad al-Kharbudi” boasts a brilliantly complex frontispiece and Sūrah headings “written in white ink on decorated strips of gold” (“Highly”). * * * Baker, Colin F. “Illumination of the Qur'an.” The British Library, December 3, 2018. https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/articles/illumination-of-the-quran. “Highly Illuminated Islamic Arabic Manuscript Koran.” LiveAuctioneers. Palmyra Heritage Gallery in NY, June 21, 2020. https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/85932075_highly-illuminated-islamic-arabic-manuscript-koran.
Date Created	1815 AD 1231 AH
Creator	Muhammad an-Nuri
Audience	Religion of Islam Muslims
Geographical Coverage	Middle East
Temporal Coverage	19th Century
Format	Handwritten manuscript
Collecting Areas	English History of Writing Collection See all items with this value English Illumination See all items with this value English Manuscript See all items with this value English Religious Text See all items with this value English Qur'ans See all items with this value
Language	Arabic
Subject	Islamic literature, Arabic See all items with this value Islam See all items with this value
Type	Qur'an
Bibliographic Citation	Muhammad an-Nuri. Handwritten Qur'an "Gold Qur'an." 19th Century.

Item sets

History of Writing