Some Old Manuscripts of the Holy Qur'an

10. the Naskhi Script =====================

With the development of sciences and arts in Islam, especially during the 'Abbasid period, the character of script also improved and reached its zenith. Rules were formulated for the art of calligraphy and masters emerged in this art. However, since the Naskhi script was simpler than the Kufic, the former received greater attention of both the calligraphers and the common people. A group of calligraphers devoted their attention to the refinement of the Naskhi script. To it belonged Ibn Muqlah - Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Husayn ibn Muqlah (272-328/885-939).

Some even believe him to be the inventor-of the Naskhi script, though this is not true. Like all other sciences, arts and crafts, script too evolved gradually towards excellence, and hence it is not possible to consider the writing of Ibn Muqlah the beginning of the Naskhi script (fortunately manuscripts attributed to him or resembling his writing still exist). 58

As a result of my study of the invaluable collection of Qur'anic manuscripts at Astanah-ye Quds-e Radawi and the Qur'ans preserved at Dar al-Kutub at Cairo, the Zahiriyyah Library at Damascus, the Library of Jama'at al-Qarwiyyin at Fas, and the library of Topkapu Museum, Istanbul, I have found that the Naskhi script was used even before Ibn Muqlah. This view is further affirmed by writings that preceded those of Ibn Muqlah, whose samples can be found in the following books:

1. A1-Khatt al-'Arabi al-'Islami by Turki 'Atiyyah.
2. Atlas-e Khatt.
3. Intishar al-khatt al-'Arabi by Ustad 'Abd al-Fattah 'Ibadah.
4. AI-Khattat al-Baghdadi by Dr. Suhayl Anwar.
5. Al-Khatt al-'Arabi wa adabuhu by Muhammad Tahir ibn 'Abd al-Qadir al-Makki.
6. Musawwir al-khatt al-'Arabi by Naji Zayn al-Din. 59
7. Ahwal wa athar-a khushnawisan by Mahdi Bayani (the section on Naskhi).

A perusal of these works would remove all doubts for the reader. Therefore, Ibn Muqlah only attempted to perfect the six styles (which include the Naskhi) which were already prevalent two hundred years before him. 60 A study of the aforementioned works and of the Qur'anic manuscripts in libraries and museums mentioned above leads us to conclude that the Naskhi script was derived from the Kufic, not the Nabataean as claimed by some.

**11. Manuscripts Ascribed to the Imams, Sahabah and Tab'iun ** Fortunately we have today some very ancient Qur'anic manuscripts which date back to the time of the Sahabah of the Prophet (S). Though the authenticity of the ascription of each one of them to its purported writer is not certain, to be sure there exist among them Qur'ans of the period of the Sahabah, a number of whom lived until the end of the 1st/7th century. 61

**12. Codices Attributed to al-'Imam al-Hasan (A) ** Among the codices attributed to some famous sahabah of the Prophet (S) - other than 'Uthman and 'Ali (A), which have been already discussed - are three codices ascribed to al-'Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba (A). The first one is kept in the Qur'anic collection of Astaneh e Quds-a Radawi. It bears the serial number 12 and contains from the twenty third juz' to the twenty-fifth juz' of the Qur'an in 122 folios of deerskin. 62 In Kufic script, it has inscribed on it the words: "al Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib" with the date 41 H. On the first folio is a dedication (waqfnameh) by Shah 'Abbas Safawi and bearing the signature of al-Shaykh al-Bahai who attributes it to al-'Imam al-Hasan (A), who is mentioned thus:

The second codex is the one placed upon the sarcophagus at the tomb of 'Ali (A) at Najaf. 63 The third one, written on ten folios of deerskin, was seen by this writer in the library of Ustad Mahmud Farrukh Khurasani. Apparently, it is still in the possession of his family. It starts with the twelfth verse of Sura al Nisa' and ends at the seventh verse of Surat al-Tawbah.

It bears the signatures of Hasan ibn 'Abbas, al-Safawi Bahadur Khan and Isma'il al-Musawi al-Hasani Bahadur Khan, indicating that they got the blessed chance to view this manuscript 64 It is not very unlikely that this third manuscript is a part of either the Qur'an at Astaneh-ye Quds-e Radawi or the one at Imam Ali's tomb, from which it might have been separated.

Incidentally, it should be remembered that the Qur'an in the possession of Ustad Farrukh and his family does not contain more than 10 leaves and it cannot comprise nearly six parts (juz') of the Qur'an, i.e. from the fourth to the tenth. Without doubt it consists of scattered leaves of the Qur'an attributed to the Imam that were collected and bound without attention to sequence.