Quran with Exceptional Illumination

A large Quran with such splendid illumination would have been a ruler's gift to a religious institution. In this case, the style suggests that the donor may well have been the Safavid Shah Tahmasp (1524-1576), although the last page, where such details would be given, is missing. The Quranic text is in elegant Muhaqqaq script -— on the ornamental page shown here is the beginning of the first sura, with the title 'Fatiha' being completed on the facing page by 'al-kitab' — with supplementary matter in a smaller, more upright Naskhi script. Despite the sumptuous nature of the ornamental double pages, always symmetrically laid out, of which there are two at the beginning, one in the middle and two at the end (although only one of them has survived), the text maintains its primary importance.