SIGNED IBN QASIM 'ALI MUHSINA AL-NISHAPURI, OTTOMAN TURKEY, DATED AH 1099 / 1687-88 AD

17th-century Ottoman Qur'ans were marked by traditionalism, leading to a consistent style based on previous traditions. Volumes were of medium size, suitable for personal use and written in a naskh drawn from the style of the calligrapher Sheikh Hamdullah, a contemporary of Sultan Bayezid (r.1481-1512) (Tim Stanley, 'Istanbul and its scribal diaspora. The calligraphers of Mustakim-zade,' Manijejh Bayani, Tim Stanley and Michael Rogers (eds.), The Decorated Word, Qur'ans of the 17th to 19th Centuries, Part One, London, 1999, p.62). Our Qur'an, copied around the time when Sultan Mehmed IV (r.1648-87) was deposed, was likely based on 16th century Qur'ans copied in the imperial treasury, such as one with a similar opening illumination in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, Istanbul (TIEM 397; 1400. Müjde Unustası (ed.), Yılında Kur'an-ı Kerim, Istanbul, 2010, pp.390-91). Another fine example with similar illumination and binding is in the Khalili Collection, London (Bayani, Stanley and Rogers, op.cit., pp.63, 80-81). Our manuscript stands out on two fronts - the margins are heavily annotated, meaning that it was likely used for teaching and the sura headings are modestly decorated but mention the number of words and letters of the sura. Secondly, the double page illumination at the beginning of the text is separated by a folio mirroring the illuminated panels, not found on any recorded Qur'an from this period. This was possibly added by later scholarly owners who did not wish to spoil the illumination.

Despite being otherwise unrecorded, the scribe of our manuscript, Ibn Qasim ‘Ali Muhsina al-Nishapuri, notes that this was the 47th Qur'an he copied. The added alif to his takhallus, pen name, 'Muhsina', would seem to stem from a Safavid tradition of creating pen-names, suggesting Iranian origins.