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he collcction itsclf canot bc displaycd in its cntirely and for the first
intcrnational cxhibition that wc staged wc chosc only I00 manuscripts. hcse were
displaycd at the Dar A1-Athar Al-Islmiyya, hc wait National Muscum during
Ramadan in 1987. We hopc that the intcrcst shown will cvctually rcsult in the
collection of Bcit ٨١ Our'an bcing cxhibited in many parts of the world.

he mauscripts include one written on bluc parchnmcnt (Figure 1), which is
similar to those housed in unisian museuns. It is believcd that such blue pages are
part of a Mushaf which was ordcred by Abbasid calipl al-Ma'moon in the 3rd c.
Hijra/9th c, AD, and that it was written in Oayrawan, unis.

he Our'an in scroll form is unusual and interesting, often allowing the
calligrapher great scope to illustrate his art, both in pattern and use of colour.
here is a splendid example (Figure 2) whereby each colour is used to form certain
patterns. he Our'anic verse, tor instance, written in two colours, black and red, is
executed in extremely fine, tiny, and delicate script forming floral, foliate and

،‫;ﻗﻴﻐﺰﻱ‬

‫ﺀﻤﻟﻡﺎ;ﻐ;ﻕ‬:‫• ﻳﻟﻤﺔﻢ‬6<‫ﺙﻱ‬،‫ﻘﺎﺞﺑ‬،‫ﻳﻱﻷﺇﻗ‬:‫ﻳﻈﺠﻴﻴﺎ؟ﺞ‬g‫ﺷﺏ‬

'‫ ﺑﺄ ﺏ‬.‫ ﻧﻌﻪ‬. ‫ﻳﻴﺈﻳﺅﺎﻓﻹﺈﻹ؟ًﻞﺿ ﺍﺟﺒﻪ‬
‫ ﻭ' ﻕ "ﺍ ﺳﻤﺞ‬. :ً!a‫ﻷﻷﺅ ﺗﺒﺄ ﺏ‬

Fig. 1. Rare and ifne quranic blue vellum page, large in siae; Highly developed Kuifc script
in gold was used on this unique blue page. From a Holy Ouran that was commissioned by the
Abbasid Cailph A‫ﺍ‬-Ma'mun and was written in AI Ourawan, unis.
" Ourawan, unis: enth Century AD

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