Qur'an Manuscript Folio
Unknown Artist
1200s–1300s
Medium
ink, gold, and color on parchment
Dimensions
52.7 × 55.4 cm
Classification
Manuscript
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Edward L. Whittemore Fund
Accession Number
1933.440
About this artwork
This page from the “Chapter of Light” (24:59–61) in the Qur'an is written in the monumental script of Islamic Spain and North Africa, known as Maghribi Kufic. Words flow rhythmically with curving flourishes toward the left margin where letters end in almost perfect semicircles, an elegant hallmark that contrasts with the upright shafts. Distinctive markings—vowels in red and diacritics in blue—identify the vocalization of the text, which would have been read or recited aloud to an assembly.