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An Exceptional Leaf from a Monumental Luxury Kufic Qur’an (Dispersed Manuscript)

Parchment, black ink with red diacritical dots

Dimensions: 22 × 19 cm

Date: Late 2nd – early 3rd century AH

(circa 780 – 830 CE)

An exceptionally rare Qur’anic leaf from a monumental and lavishly conceived dispersed Kufic Qur’an, representing the pinnacle of aesthetic ambition and material luxury in early Islamic manuscript production. The manuscript is distinguished by its extraordinary layout of only three widely spaced lines per page, a bold and highly unusual design choice that dramatically enhances the visual impact of the text. Such a format strongly suggests that the complete Qur’an would have comprised well over one thousand leaves, placing it among the most ambitious and costly early Qur’anic manuscripts known.

The text is executed in a highly attenuated and visually commanding Kufic script, characterised by soaring vertical letter forms, most notably alif, lam, and lam-alif, balanced by broad, sweeping terminal nun and delicately elongated trailing loops of terminal mim. The intentional contrast between monumentality and refinement creates a powerful visual rhythm, revealing a scribe working with remarkable artistic confidence and a highly developed graphic sensibility.

This script belongs to D.Vc, a rare and independent category defined by François Déroche and known from only a very small number of sumptuous Qur’anic manuscripts. Dated to the late second or early third century AH, this group represents an early and highly experimental phase in the development of Kufic Qur’anic calligraphy, preceding the standardization of later Kufic and cursive scripts.

Qur’anic text:

Recto: Qur’an, al-Rūm 30:38

Verso: Qur’an, al-Rūm 30:39 (opening)

Other leaves from the same Qur’an are preserved in prominent international collections, underscoring the importance of this manuscript as one of the most refined and luxurious survivals of early Qur’anic art. This leaf offers a rare opportunity to acquire a museum-quality example from the very apex of early Islamic calligraphy.