copied in Hijazi script; 12 lines to the page

17.5 x 25 cm

Text: surah al-Hadid (LVII), verses 13–23.

There is no vocalization. Triangular clusters of three strokes mark the end of each verse. At verse 19, a crude marker has been added in black ink to indicate the end of a group of ten verses. The change from the vertical format of the earliest copies of the Qur’an to the horizontal format seen in this folio marks the second stage in the development of Qur’anic calligraphy.

F. Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition, Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, vol. I, London 1992, cat.2, pp.31–2.