kūfī (Typ D I)

Das kufische Fragment stammt aus einem Kodex, aus dem wahrscheinlich auch die folgenden Fragmente stammen:

(1) Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France: Arabe 350 a (144 fol.),
(2) Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek: A 449 (3 fol.),
(3) Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek: A 452 (4 fol),
(4) Istanbul, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi: EH 26, fol. 14-19 (6 fol.),
(5) Kopenhagen, Königliche Bibliothek: Cod. Arab. 40 (31 fol.),
(6) Kopenhagen, Königliche Bibliothek: Cod. Arab. 42, fol. 4-6 (3 fol.),
(7) Dublin, Chester Beatty Library: Is. 1407 (4 fol.),
(8) Istanbul, Süleymaniya: Aya Sofiya 23 (67 fol.),
(9) Wolfenbüttel: Cod. Guelf. 12. 11. Aug. (6 fol.)
(10) Berlin, Museum für Islamische Kunst: Inv. I.2211 (22 fol.),
(11) Oxford, Bodleian Library: Marsh 178 = arab. Mohammed. in Catal. Urio[?] XVI (22 fol.).

Für eine digitale Darstellung der verschiedenen Fragmente siehe The Digital Muṣḥaf (Keith Small, Oxford).

Massumeh Farhad 2016, S. 152: "Part of a fragmentary Qur'an, these folios from sura al-Baqara (the Cow) epitomize the stately elegance of the kufic script. Razor-sharp letters and words appear on cream-colored archment in five equidistant rows. With its emphasis on the horizontal strokes, the script's generous spacing enhances its unhurried rhythm. Clearly, the overall design of the rext was critical, for on folio 10a, the calligrapher contracted words - such as shay (thing) in line 4 - and expanded others - e.g., a-kitab (scripture) on the first line - to create a neat rectangle, which sits somewhat closer to the inner gutter and allows for a wide outer margin. He also ensured that the first, third, and fourth letters began with the letter alif with its characteristic left lower hook. The same concern with harmonizing letterforms can be seen on other folios from this fragment. On folio 8a, for example, the lines begin with the tight, contracted curves of the word fi (in) and the letter waw, which are carefully stacked above each other and draw attention to their shape.  The elegant treatment of the script is also evident in the medallion in the lower right corner folio 10a)[ ( fehlt, Anm. d. Bearb.]. Inscribed in gold with the words "two-hundred and thirty", which mark the verse number in the chapter, the center is surrounded by finely illuminated, intersecting bands. The other additions to the text are red vocalization marks, which some scholars have used recently to determine the provenance of early Qur'ans."

Estelle Whelan 1990, S. 128,34: "The folios in Washington were purchased from the New York dealer Hagop Kevorkian in 1937." Weitere Blätter aus der ursprünglichen nennt Whelan 1990,116f. verzeichnet.

Literatur:
Massumeh Farhad/Simon Rettig, The Art of the Qur'an. Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts. With contributions by François Déroche, Edhem Eldem, Jane McAuliffe, Sana Mirza and Zeren Tanındı. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution,[ published on the occasion of the exhibition "The Art of the Qur'an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul", October 15, 2016 - February 20, 2017,] Washington DC 2016, 152f. [No. 7: Folios from a Qur'an]
Ideals of Beauty: Asian and American Art in the Freer and Sackler Galleries. London: Thames and Hudson 2010, p. 118f.
Estelle Whelan, "Writing the Word of God: Some Early Qur'ān manuscripts and Their Milieux, Part 1", Ars Orientalis 20 (1990), pp. 113-47; besonders: pp.116-119, p.128 und p.134.
Esin Atıl, Art of the Arab World. Washington, DC: Freer Gallery of Art 1975, p. 14f., cat. 1