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Lot Essay
Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali, for whom this Qur’an was made, was the grandson of ‘Ali bin Musa bin al-Rashid, who founded the city of Chefchaouen in 1471. ‘Ali bin Musa’s descendants, known as the Banu Rashid, governed the city under nominal rule of the Berber Wattasid dynasty until the Sa’dian conquest of the city in 1561, only a year before this Qur’an was copied. The genealogical line of Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali goes as far as the Prophet’s son-in-law and Fourth Caliph, Imam ‘Ali.
A Qur’an in the British Library (MS.Or.1405) was copied six years after the present manuscript in AH 975/1568 AD. It was commissioned by the Sa’dian ruler Mawlay ‘Abdullah bin Muhammad (Martin Lings, The Qur’anic Art of Calligraphy and Illumination, London, 1976, pls.108-109). Both that Qur’an and ours are copied on paper in vertical format. They start with impressively intricate geometric panels in gold, white and blue bordered by complex palmettes extending to the outer margin. Together with another Qur’an copied in AH 1008/1599 AD in Marrakesh under the celebrated Sa’dian ruler Ahmad al-Mansur (now in Escorial Library, MS.1340; Lings, op.cit., pls.106-107), they clearly demonstrate that luxurious religious manuscripts were an important part of royal patronage under the Sa’dians.
A Qur’an section in the Nasser D. Khalili collection, dated circa 1550-60, offers a another comparable example for manuscripts of the period, although executed in a simple manner (Manijeh Bayani, Anna Contadini & Tim Stanley, The Decorated Word, Oxford, 1999, cat.8, pp.42-46). An interesting feature of these 16th and early 17th century Qur’ans is their vertical format which is probably inspired by middle eastern manuscripts. Most earlier mediaeval Qur’ans are square, a format which is restored for Qura’nic manuscripts produced under the later ‘Alawi sultans (1631-present day)
A Qur’an in the British Library (MS.Or.1405) was copied six years after the present manuscript in AH 975/1568 AD. It was commissioned by the Sa’dian ruler Mawlay ‘Abdullah bin Muhammad (Martin Lings, The Qur’anic Art of Calligraphy and Illumination, London, 1976, pls.108-109). Both that Qur’an and ours are copied on paper in vertical format. They start with impressively intricate geometric panels in gold, white and blue bordered by complex palmettes extending to the outer margin. Together with another Qur’an copied in AH 1008/1599 AD in Marrakesh under the celebrated Sa’dian ruler Ahmad al-Mansur (now in Escorial Library, MS.1340; Lings, op.cit., pls.106-107), they clearly demonstrate that luxurious religious manuscripts were an important part of royal patronage under the Sa’dians.
A Qur’an section in the Nasser D. Khalili collection, dated circa 1550-60, offers a another comparable example for manuscripts of the period, although executed in a simple manner (Manijeh Bayani, Anna Contadini & Tim Stanley, The Decorated Word, Oxford, 1999, cat.8, pp.42-46). An interesting feature of these 16th and early 17th century Qur’ans is their vertical format which is probably inspired by middle eastern manuscripts. Most earlier mediaeval Qur’ans are square, a format which is restored for Qura’nic manuscripts produced under the later ‘Alawi sultans (1631-present day)