Some Old Manuscripts of the Holy Qur'an

Notes

1. Most of the Prophet's biographers have mentioned the names - more or less - of the scribes of the revelation. Dr. Ramyar in his Ta'rikh-e Qur'an, p. 66, has mentioned the names of forty of them. Dr. Subhi al-Salih, in Mabahith fi 'ulum al-Qur'an, p. 69, ascribes the maximum number of forty to Blachere.' Dr. Hujjati, in his Ta'rikh-e Qur'an, p. 203, mentions the names of these forty scribes. See Dr. Ramyar, op. cit., p. 324 for the names and number of the scribes mentioned in different sources.

2. This is what is mentioned in al-Fihrist, but it must be Zayd ibn Thabit. Similarly, it is Sa'd ibn 'Ubayd in more correct accounts. See al-'Isabah.

3. Ibn al-Nad'im, al-Fihrist, Cairo: al-Maktabat al-Tijariyyah, p.

5. Sahih al-Bukhari, "Kitab fadai'al-Qur'an", "bab al-qurra min ashab al-Nabi (S)."

6. Sahih al-Bukhari, "Kitab fadai'al-Qur'an", "bab al-qurra min ashab al-Nabi (S)."

7. Al-Zarakshi, al-Burhani, ed. 'Isa al-Babi al-Halabi, Cairo, i,

9. Al-Fihrist, 45, 46.

10. Al-Tamhid, 2, 247.

9.[^9] Ta'rikh-e Ya'qubi, (Persian trans.), ii, 15.

10. Al-Fihrist, 45.

11. Such as Ta Sin Sulayman, Ashab al--Hajar, al-Taharah, and Alif Lam Mim Tanzil in Ubayy ibn Ka'b's mushaf and a1-Hawariyyun; al-Qiyamah and Inshaqqat in Ibn Mas'ud's mushaf.

12. Sahih al-Bukhari, "Kitab fada'il al-Qur'in," "bab jam'al-Qur'an"; Ibn al Athir, Kamil al-Tawarikh, as well as other works on history and biography. See also Ibn al-Nadim, al-Fihrist, Persian. trans. 41.

13. Ta'rikh-a Ya'qubi, Persian trans., ii, 15.

14. Sahih al-Bukhari; al-Suyuti's al -'Itqan; al-Zarakashi's al-Burhan, i, 240; Ta'rikh al Ya'qubi, Najaf, ii, 147; Subhi al-Salih, Mabahithfri'ulum al-Qur'an, 78.

15. Sahih, al-Bukhari and al-Zarakshi's al-Burhan, i, 236:

16. Al-Masahif 24.

17. Mabahith fi'ulum al-Qur'an, 8th edition, 82.

18. Al-Masahif 15; Tarikh al-Ya'qubi, ii, 147.

19. Nine according to al-Ya'qubi, ii, 147, five according to al-Suyuti in al-'Itqan, eight according to Ibn al-Jawzi; Subhi al-Salih in Mabahith fi 'ulum al Qur'an, 84, mentions Abu 'Amr al-Dani's narration according to which they were four copies; he also mentions the tradition stating that they were seven.

20. Mujaz 'alum al-Qur'an, 166.

21. Mu'jam al-buldan, Beirut, ii, 469.

22. From al-Tamhid, 299 and Subhi al-Salih, op. cit, 90.

23. Safarnameh ibn-e.Battutah, Pers. trans. i, 87.

24. Khutat al-Sham, v, 219.

25. Ramyar, Tarikh-e Qur'an, 106.

26. Ramyar from Goldziher's Madhahib al-tafsir al-'Islami, from Nabulusi's Kitab al-haqiqah wa al-majaz, MS. at Leipzig.

27. Casanova, as quoted in Rimyar, op. cit., 466.

28. Ramyar, Ta'rikh-e Qur'an, 106.

29.[^29] Mabahith fi 'ulum al-Qur'an, 88.

30. Ibid., as quoted from Khutat al-Sham, v, 279.

31. Rawdat al-safa, vi, 372.

32. Ibid., vi, 364.

33. Ta'rikh al-Ya'qubi, ii, 113; Tafsir al-Qummi, 745; Ibn al-Nadim, al-Fihrist, Pers. trans,

34. Ibn al-Nadim's al-Fihrist, Pers. trans., 47.

35. Ibn Juzayy, al-Tashil fi'ulum al-tanzil, Beirut, 4; al-Zarakshi, al-Burhan fi Ulum al-Qur'an, i, 242, 238.

36. As quoted by al-Tamhid from al-Majlisi's Bihar al-'anwar.

37. He wrote al-Fihrist in 377 H.

38. Al-Fihrist, Pers. trans. 47.

39. See Riyad al-'Ulama, v, 533.

40. Al-Maqrizi, al Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khtitat wa al-'athar, ii, 252.

41. See the article of this author regarding Islamic libraries, Nameh-ye Astane Quds, Nos. 22, 23.

42. See Fihrist Makhtutat al-Rawdat al-Haydariyyah, 14.

43. The last part is based on the information provided by my earned friend Hujjat al-'Islam Hajj Sayyid Musa Zanjani (Shabbiri).

44. Rahname-ye Ganjineh-ye Qur'an, 3.

45. List of the microfilms of Ma'had al-Makhtutat.

46. Probably a mushaf attributed to 'Ali (A) also exists at the Shiraz Museum, but since I do not have a precise knowledge of it I refrain from mentioning it. Another Qur'an attributed to 'Ali (A) exists at the Library of San'a', Yemen, about which I came to know through my learned friend Sayyid Ahmad Ashkawari.

47. See al-Tamhid, i, 226.

48. 'Ali (A) in the Nahj al-balaghah, "Hikam," is reported as having said to his scribe 'Ubayd Allah ibn Abi Rafi;

49. I do not remember where I read about this episode.

50. Ibn al-Nadim's al-Fihrist, Pers. trans. 71.

51. Al-Tamhid, i, 355.

52. The Kufic and Naskhi scripts were derived from the Nabataean and Syriac alphabets nearly a century before the Hijrah (Da'irat al-ma'arif musahib, i, 908 ).

53. Ramyar, Tarikh-e Qur'an, 117.

54. Ibid.

55. Al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-iman as quoted in Ramyar's Ta'rikh-e Qur'an, 141.

56. Tarikh al-tiba'ah fi al-sharq.

57. In the year 1121 H. Arabic letters started to be used in print (Tarikh al-tiba'ahf i al-sharq, 25).

58. Such as the mushaf of Herat Museum in Afghanistan. See al Khatt al Arabi al-'Islami, 155 and al-Khattat al-Baghdadi, 16.

59. In this work 249 books, treatises and articles have been referred to and it has been illustrated with 757 facsimiles of the works of eminent calligraphers. It was published in 1388 at Baghdad.

60. Dairat al-ma'arif musahib.

61. The last surviving companion of the Prophet (S) was Abu al-Tufayl ('Amir ibn Wathilah.), who died in 110. The names of the last surviving Companions of the Prophet (S) in different countries have been mentioned in this writer's Ilm al-hadith, 24.

62. Rahnama-ye Ganjineh-ye Qur'an.

63. Fihrist makhtutat al-Rawdat al Haydariyyah, 15.

64. Husayn ibn 'AbbAs al-Hasani al Safawi Bahidur Khan had the honour of viewing this blessed and noble mushaf. "Isma'il al -Musawi al-Hasani al Safawi Bahadur Khan had the honor of viewing this blessed and noble mushaf on the 27th of Rajab 9... (the year has been lost as a result of the binding).

Mr. Farrukh writes: "That which I know is that this Qur'an was in the library of the late Mirza Askari, the imam jumu'ah. My grandfather, Mirza Husayn Jawahiri, with the takhallus 'Asi, purchased it from the heirs of Mirza 'Askari, and it reached me through my father Sayyid Ahmad Jawahiri, whose takhallus was Dana, as a legacy.

It is presently in my possession. Hujjat al-'Islam Hajj Mirza 'Askari, the imam jumu'ah, was the uncle of the famous mujtahid and poet Hajj Sayyid Habib and the son of Hajj Mirza Hidiyat Allah, son of Sayyid Mahdi, the Shahid-a Thalith. The Shahidi families of Khurasin are his progeny. Sayyid Mahdi, the Shahid-a Thalith, was himself a descendant of Shah Ni'mat Allah Wali. He had come to Khurasan from Isfahan and was martyred."

65. Rahnamaye Ganjineh-ye Quran, 8-13.

66. Al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al asmda, i, 336.

67. Husn al-muhadarah, i, 220.

68. Al-'Amanah Library is presently a part of the big Topkapu Sarayi Library and is independently and separately maintained.

69. Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalini, Taqrib al-Tahdhib.

70. It would be very appropriate if the library of the Astinah-ye Quds-e Radawi obtains films and facsimiles of, this and other manuscripts which exist in foreign libraries for displaying them to those interested in the relics of the Family of the Prophet (S) and the general public.

71. Contains ,the Surahs al Nur, al-Qasas, al-'Ankabut, al-Rum, Luqman, al-Sajdah, al-'Ahzab, al-Mu'min, Fussilat, al-Jathiyah, al-Ahqaf, al-Waqi'ah and al- Hadid.

72. Considering that deerskin is white, delicate and has a low fat content, it was used for parchments, and the ancient manuscripts were accordingly termed "deerskin", although apparently lambskin, which was available in larger quantities,: has also the same qualities. 'Jafr' or 'jafr-e abyad' were also lambskin parchments on 4 which sacred knowledge was recorded and were in the possession of the Ahl al Bayt. See under 'jafr' in Majma' al-bahrayn.

73. See its facsimile in Dr. Hujjati's Ta'rikh al-Qur'an, No. 60.

74. See al-Khatt al-'Arabi al-'Islami, Turki'Atiyyah,155; cf. al-Tamhid, 358.

75. Rahnama-ye Ganjineh-ye Qur'an, from Lughatnameh-ye Dehkhuda.

76. Dr. Hujjati, Ta'rikh-e Qur'an, illustration no. 79.

77. Fihrist makhtutat al-Rawdat al-Haydariyyah, 14.

78. See of Mustashriqun, ii, 466.

79. Rahnamaye Ganjineh-ye Qur'an, from the marginal notes of Rahat al-sudur, al-Naqd, and Ta'rikh-e Bayhaqi.

80. Dr. Hujjati, Ta'rikh al-Qur'an, illustration no. 80.

81. This author's Yaddashtha-ye safar-e Misr.

82. Fihrist makhtutat al-Rawdat al-Haydariyyah, 15.