Arabic MS 704 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
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Arabic Manuscripts
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Title: al-QurʾānTitle: القرانLanguage(s): ArabicIncipit: انه لكران كريم في كتاب مكنونExplicit: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيمPreviously believed to have been written for Qansuḥ al-Ghūri (1500-1516 CE), the penultimate Mamluk sultan of Egypt and formerly belonging to his mosque at Cairo (see Mingana catalogue). Most recently it has been dated to the 14th century, and associated with Sultan Shaʾbān (1363-1376) and his mother Khwānd Baraka. It shows similarity to MSS 9 and 10 at the National Library, Cairo (see James, Rylands Arabic MS. 42, Ohta, the Bindings of Qansuh al-Ghawri, p. 215)).
The deficiency at the beginning, caused by the piece torn away at the bottom of folios 1 and 2, consists of two lines on folio 1a, and of two lines on folio 2b (Surah 2). The corresponding portions of folios 1b and 2a were filled in with the proper words by the French restorer. However, on page 4 he inserted Surah 3:1-2 instead of the missing text (Surah 2:9-11). On folio 1a his addition is similarly false and superfluous, and seems to be simply a meaningless imitation of the Arabic script.
.Between folios 469 and 470 - between 89:28 (ارجعى) and 98:5 (اوليك) - there are about three leaves missing.
The deficiency at the end is the absence of the last surahs from 101 to 114, which implies the loss of about 12 leaves, calculating for the amount of space occupied by the numerous headings.
Filiation: Two folios of the manuscript are now housed in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin: CBL Is 1627 and CBL Is 1628.Filiation: Another folio of this manuscript is now housed in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts: 09.335, containing on one side Surah 85:13-22 and 86:1-7 (only one side has been digited and described).1aTitle: Introductory pageIlluminated page with verses from the Quran (Surah 56:77-80) and an inscription: هذا المصحف الشريف شرفه الله وعظمه برسم الخوانة الشريفة السلطانية الملكية... بسم عطمه.
2a-39bTitle: Sūrat al-BaqarahTitle: سورة البقرةSurah 2.
Folio 2a: first four verse of the surah is in illuminated full border.
137b-145aTitle: Sūrat al-ʾAnfālTitle: سورة الانفالSurah 8. Last two words of Surah 8:75 are in an illuminated panel.
161a-172aTitle: Sūrat YunusTitle: سورة يونسSurah 10.
172a-183aTitle: Sūrat HūdTitle: سورة هودSurah 11. Last three words of 11:123 are in an illuminated panel.
183a-193bTitle: Sūrat YusufTitle: سورة يوسفSurah 12.
459b-461aTitle: Sūrat al-ʾInsānTitle: سورة الانسانSurah 76.
Verses 37-38 are supplied in the margin.
468b-469aTitle: Sūrat al-ʾInshiqāqTitle: سورة الانشقاقFolio 468 supplied later, see additions.
Surah 84:1-6 (last word of verse 6 is missing).
Physical Description
Form: codexSupport: Thick bombycine paper.Extent: 470 foliosDimensions (leaf): 860 × 540 mm.Foliation: Foliation in pencil. Numbers 362 and 381 and have been missed out.Layout
Uniform layout.
Hand(s)
Large Naskhi script.
Decoration
Text on first three pages in gold letters.
At the beginning of folios 1b-2a: ʿunwan with illuminated full border.
Illuminated surah headings (e.g. 39b, 137b, 172a, 470b) or illuminated panel with both the last few words of the surah and the heading of the next surah (e.g. 60a, 220a).
Additions: Folio 468 was supplied later (probably by the French restorer).Binding
Brown leather binging; blind-tooled.
History
Origin: Produced in Egypt; in the 2nd half of the 14th century CE.Provenance and Acquisition
Round seal on folio 1a.
According to D'Avennes, it was exhibited in the Exposition Universelle of 1867 in Paris (the cataloguer did not find the item in the catalogue of the exhibition); see D'Avennes, L'art arabe, 1877.
Acquired by Ambroise Firmin-Didot in 1869; see his book plate on the front pastedown; also see his manuscript catalogue Catalogue des livres précieux manuscrits et imprimés faisant partie de la bibliothèque de M. Ambroise Firmin-Didot: Ventes, Hôtel des commissaires-priseurs (Paris, 1884), pages 67-68. After his death in 1876, a large part of his collection was auctioned off in a series of sales held between 1878 and 1884 (Arabic MS 704 is listed as lot 100 for the sale on 10-14 June 1884).
Aquired by Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) Crawford, Alexander Crawford Lindsay, 1812-1880, most probably in 1884 at the last sale of Didot's manuscripts.
Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847–1913) .
Bequeathed by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1908 to The John Rylands Library.
Record Sources
Description based on A. Mingana, Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library Manchester (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1934).Availability
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Digital Images
Library Digital Collections (full digital facsimile).
Bibliography
A. Mingana, Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library Manchester (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1934), vol. 1, no. 42.Ohta, A. "The Bindings of Qansuh al-Ghawri." In Art, Trade and Culture in the Islamic World and Beyond. From the Fatimids to the Mughals. Studies Presented to Doris Behrens-Abouseif. Eds. A. Ohta, J.M. Rogers & R.W. Haddon, 215-224. London, 2016.Kristof D’hulster. Browsing Through the Sultan’s Bookshelves : Towards a Reconstruction of the Library of the Mamluk Sultan Qāniṣawh Al-Ghawrī (r. 906–922/1501–1516). Mamluk Studies (Göttingen: V&R Unipress, 2021), page 231--232.Funding of Cataloguing
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