Qur'an
Illuminated manuscript Qur'an copied by 'Abd al-Rahman Tawfiq, Ottoman Empire, c.1825-50
Arabic manuscript in black ink on polished laid paper, 300 ff., leaf dimensions 17.1 x 11.2cm, naskh script, 15 lines to the page, elaborate illuminated opening bifolium, each page of remaining text within red and gold frame, sura-headings in white thuluth on gold ground, gold roundel aya-markings and rubricated recitation markings throughout, contemporary dark red leather binding with envelope-flap and gilt filigree panels, variable soiling, several leaves including opening bifolium loose with concomitant rumpling and nicks to margins, with a laid-in contemporary calligraphic panel in Arabic reading ‘khayrukum man ta’allama al-Qur'an wa ‘alimahu’ ('the best of you is he who has learned and known the Qur'an', a well-known hadith of the Prophet Muhammad)