Islamic devotional book.

Manuscript codex.

Title devised by cataloger.

Physical description: 9 lines per page, in elegant naskh script on tan glazed, laid Arabic paper. Text fully vocalized; catchwords. Leaves 1b, 3a, 142b-144a blank. Occasional light smudging.

Decoration for opening sūrah: 2-page illuminated spread on leaves 3b-4a. ʻUnwān on leaf 3b contains floral design in salmon and gold on backgrounds of blue, olive green and black; sūrah title written in salmon set within an olive green dodecafoil. The ʻunwān is surmounted by blue and red tīghs and bounded on three sides by decorated olive green, salmon, and black borders. On leaves 3b-4a is a wide border with scalloped edges and decorated in a manner similar to the ʻunwān; space between the border and page edge is filled with blue and red tīghs. Text is set within clouds on gold ground; verse markers in green, salmon and gold and floral design in gold and salmon above basmalah. Endpiece at end of sūrah (leaf 33b) filled with floral design similar to ʻunwāns with pink and olive green borders.

Decoration for remainder of sūrahs, āyahs, litanies and prayers: Opening page of second sūrah (leaf 34a) contains an ʻunwān consisting of floral design on blue background, surmounted by blue and red tīghs and bordered on three sides by gold, pink and yellow; gold foliar design over basmalah. Opening pages of succeeding sūrahs, āyahs, litanies and prayers (leaves 42a, 46a, 53a, 59b, 64b, 70a, 74a, 76a, 78a, 80b-83b, 85a-b, 86b-94b, 96a-98b, 100a-102b, 106a, 107b, 111b, 112b, 113b) marked with small ʻunwāns in a variety of designs, generally consisting of the title in white set on gold ground, flanked on either side by a polychrome floral design and framed in a colored border; gold foliar design over basmalah. Polychrome floral endpieces on leaves 95a, 114a. Remainder of text framed in thick gold and thin red border, with similar verse markers.

Decoration for names, ḥilyahs and other texts: Leaves 114b-115b contain the words Allāh and Muḥammad, respectively; names are written in large gold script and set within a violet mandala with gold border. Mandala sits within a rectangle with red background and violet foliar design; in the corners are pious phrases written in red set within octofoils with gold borders. Above and below the central rectangle are ʻunwans in gold, with pious phrases written in white in the center and flanked by a red and black floral pattern, framed in a red border with violet dots. Entire piece framed in red and gold. Ḥilyahs (leaves 115b-125a) follow the same pattern, but in mandala text is written in clouds on gold ground with polychrome punctuation marks; central rectangle always contains two colors, one for the background and one for the foliar pattern (red on pink, red on orange, dark blue on pale blue, etc. ). Corner octofoils contain epithets; ʻunwāns always bordered by a color with dots (black on pale blue, red on pink, blue on red, etc. ). Remaining leaves illuminated similarly, in a variety of color schemes; some contain illustrations with or without an ʻunwān at the top. Facing pages generally illuminated in the same color scheme.

A beautifully illuminated selection of sūrahs and āyahs from the Qurʼān, followed by ḥilyahs, talismans and diagrams of Muḥammad's relics and other objects and places of religious significance.

Full brown leather Islamic binding with gold-stamped central mandorla, pendants, cornerpieces, and border, all of which are decorated with dots and arabesques. Gold-stamped fillets. Red leather doublures decorated with a gold octofoil pattern with central gold dots. A piece of leather with the same design is attached to leaves 1a, 144b.

Forms part of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University).

Forms part of the Alfred and Elizabeth Brand Collection of Rare Books and Manuscripts.