Art in an Early Global World at WAM: A WAM/College of the Holy Cross Collaboration

What is this Page from the Qur'an?

This page is from a Qur'an manuscript written in angular script. It features verses from Surah 95, At-Tin (The Fig), specifically verses 3-8, and includes the title and bismillah for Surah 96, Al-‘Alaq (Read!)


The text is written in the Kufic script, an early Arabic script characterized by its angular and elongated letterforms. The manuscript has been crafted with a high level of skill, denoted by the uniformity of the text and the use of diacritical marks to indicate vowel sounds. The parchment shows signs of age, and the calligraphy is enhanced with gold, suggesting that this manuscript was valuable. The presence of decorative motifs and the application of gold have been popular throughout the history of illuminated Qur'ans, but the use of Kufic and parchment shows that this a product of the period c. 850-1000 CE.

Yonglong (Ethan) Ren, Class of 2026, College of the Holy Cross

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