Middle East or North Africa
late 9th – early 10th century AD
ink, gold and opaque watercolour on vellum
copied in Kufic script; 5 lines to the page
12 x 17cm
Text: surah al-Nisa’ (IV), verses 66–9.
The vocalization is indicated by red dots, but the green diacriticals are later additions, probably when the script had become so old-fashioned that it was no longer legible to the common reader. Verses are punctuated by three superimposed gold dots, while a gold Kufic letter ha’ marks the passage of five verses.
F. Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition, Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, vol. I, London 1992, cat.28, p.79.
J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection, London 2010, cat.7, p.34.