Some Old Manuscripts of the Holy Qur'an

5. the Egyptian Codex =====================

Al-Maqrizi (d. 845/1441) mentions in Khutat Misr 40 a Qur'an written by 'Ali (A) that existed in the library of the Fatimid caliphs in Cairo. This codex was initially safeguarded in a silver chest in the ancient grand mosque (al-Jami' al-'Atiq) of Egypt when Ma'mun Bata'ihi, a minister of the Fatimid caliph Amir Billah, ordered a golden chest to be made for it. 41 Presently a Qur'an attributed to 'Ali (A) exists in the collection at the shrine of al-Husayn (A) at Cairo. It is not unlikely that it is the same one which existed at the ancient grand Mosque of Egypt and and was later transferred from there.

6. The Najaf Codex

Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Dawudi al-Hasani, known as Ibn 'Inabah (d. 825/1422) - mentions in 'Umdat al-talib a Qur'an which existed in the collection at 'Ali's shrine at Najaf. He also mentions another Qur'an written, by 'Ali (A) which he had seen at the shrine of 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Ali. Any connection between these two Qur'ans and their link with the one in Egypt requires further investigation.

Even today there exists a Qur'an in the collection at 'Ali's shrine at Najaf 42 which some scholars believe to be the one mentioned by the author of Umdat al-talib. It is possible that the codex at the tomb of 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ali might have comprised some parts of the one at Najaf.

Sayyid Ahmad al-Husayni al-'Ashkawari in Fihrist khizanat al rawdat al-Haydariyyah, quoting Mawsu'at al-'atabat al-muqaddasah (chapter on Najaf), writes that in the year 755/1354 the shrine of 'Ali (A) was affected by fire in which many rare possessions of the collection were lost including the Qur'an written by 'Ali (A) in three volumes.

On the margin of the manuscript of 'Umdat al-talib present at the library of Astanah-a Quds-e Radawi, there are useful notes written by a librarian of Nassabah named Husayn, which include a description about the Najaf codex. The relevant note says: "The codex seen by al Sayyid al-Naqib (i.e. Ibn 'Inabah al-Hasani Nassabah, author of 'Umdat al-talib) at Najaf still exists in the collection at Najaf.

However, a considerable part of it was burnt and only one volume remained, and that too without the marginal notes since all the margins along with a part of the text were destroyed in the fire." 43

7. The Codex at al-'Imam al-Rida's Shrine

Apart from the Qur'an kept on the sarcophagus (dari') at the tomb of 'Ali (A) at Najaf, two more Qur'anic codices exist in the collection at al-'Imam al-Rida's shrine at Mashhad that are attributed to Imam 'Ali (A). The first bears the number 6 and is kept at the library. It is written in Kufic script on deerskin with the note: "Katabahu 'Ali ibn Abi Talib." On the first page there is a dedication by Shah 'Abbas, the Safawid monarch, in the writing of al-Shaykh al-Bahai and with his signature with the date 1008 H. There, al-Shaykh al-Bahai mentions it as having been written by 'Ali (A). This Qur'an in 68 folios contains a part of the scripture from Surat Hud to the end of Surat al-Kahf. 44

The second Qur'an bears the number 1. Parts of its margins are gone and verses are missing from in between. For instance, between Folios 33 and 34 nearly 79 verses are missing. This Qur'an has been been written on deerskin and has 341 folios comprising the whole Qur'an. It was endowed by Shah 'Abbas in the year 1009/1600 to the shrine. We quote below the endowment deed written in al-Shaykh al-Bahai's hand:

This Glorious Qur'an written by the Amir al Mu'minin, Sayyid al Wasiyyin, Asad Allah al-Ghalib, Imam ahl al-mashariq wa al-magharib, Mazhar al'aja'ib wa Muzhir al-ghara'ib, Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (A) has been endowed to the sacred, luminous, immaculate, compeer to the Throne, and blessed shrine of Rida, on whose dweller be thousands and thousands of salutations and benedictions, by the shadow of God, the dust of the threshold of the Best of Mankind (i.e. the Prophet),

the disseminator of the righteous faith of the Twelve Imams (A ), the sincere slave of Amir al-Mu'minin Haydar, Shah 'Abbas al-Husayni al-Musawi al-Safawi Bahidur Khan, may God immortalize his kingdom and authority and bestow his kindness, justice and goodness upon mankind. Amin Rabb al-'Alamin. Written by the dust of the Shrine of al-Rida - peace be upon him - the humblest of creatures, Baha' al-Din Muhammad in the year 1009.