Introduction
In formatting Islamic manuscripts, the Holy Qurʾān has been produced in either one or several volumes. If all the chapters (sūras) of a Qurʾān are put together in one volume, it is known as a Qurʾān-i Jāmiʿ (“complete Qurʾān”). Qurʾāns in 2, 4, 30, 60 and 120 sections are also common in the production of Qurʾān manuscripts. In these Qurʾāns, the order of the chapters and verses is respected and the number of volumes usually follows the arrangement of the Holy Qurʾān. For example, in the Qurʾāns of thirty sections, which are the most common Qurʾān manuscripts of several volumes, each juzʾ makes one volume: the first volume contains the first juzʾ, the second volume contains the second juzʾ, and so on to the thirtieth volume.
There is another type of Qurʾān manuscript where a selection of chapters is put together in one volume. These Qurʾāns are known as Muntakhab al-Suwar (a selection of chapters). In comparison to the other types of Qurʾān manuscripts, Muntakhab al-Suwar is rare. This article presents a very rare Qurʾān manuscript of Muntakhab al-Suwar calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān b. Shāhrukh. This Qurʾān, the Ibrāhīm Sulṭān Muṣḥaf (ISM), is one of the most important manuscripts produced in Shiraz in the Tīmūrid era. However, it is not much known by researchers. In this paper, the unique codicology and special characteristics of this masterpiece are studied. Prior to that, we consider the important historical qualities of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān and the art works attributed to him. The style of his calligraphy in this Qurʾān will also be examined to find out the source of inspiration for his distinct style.
The ISM was endowed to the holy shrine of Shāh-ChirāghFootnote 1 during Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s lifetime. However, there is no accurate documented information about this manuscript and its whereabouts until 1936. In this year, the ISM was transferred from the Holy Shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh to the Pars Museum.Footnote 2 Years later, M. T. Dānish-Pazhūh mentioned the ISM in his report on the manuscripts of the Pars Museum. However, he confused its codicology with the monumental Qurʾān known as Hifdah-Man, which is also attributed to Ibrāhīm Sulṭān.Footnote 3 Based on an old catalogue, both these Qurʾāns were kept in the same cabinet in the museum.Footnote 4 Some other scholars also made the similar mistake and failed to notice the differences between these two Qurʾāns.Footnote 5
In early 1976, the ISM and two other manuscripts of the Pars Museum were exhibited in “An Exhibition of Qurʾān Manuscripts at the British Library.” A brief description of the ISM was presented in the catalogue of this exhibition.Footnote 6 In that year, Martin Lings, one of the authors of this catalogue, used the same description along with the pictures of the opening double page and the sūra heading cartouche of al-Shūrā in The Qurʾānic Art of Calligraphy and Illustration.Footnote 7
The ISM is registered in the old inventories of the Pars Museum under numbers 279 and 430. In the new register, it comes under number 550.
Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s Patronage of the Arts
Ibrāhīm Sulṭān, the son of Shāhrukh and the grandson of Tīmūr, was born in late Shawwāl 796 AH/August 1394 ADFootnote 8 and passed away in early Shawwāl 838 AH/May 1435 AD.Footnote 9 Tīmūr gave him the title of “Sulṭān Ibrāhīm,”Footnote 10 and his nickname was “Abū al-Fatḥ.” He was also called “Mughīth al-Dīn.” He has been given some other names and titles in the historical documents but he is most often known as “Ibrāhīm Sulṭān.”Footnote 11
In Rajab 817 AH/September 1414 AD, when Ibrāhīm Sulṭān was only twenty-one years old, he was appointed governor of Fars province. He ruled in Shiraz, the capital city of Fars, for nearly two decades. Previously, he had been the governor of Balkh (1409–14 AD) and he was not meant to become the governor of Fars. After defeating a rebellion by Iskandar Sulṭān, Shāhrukh intended to appoint Amīr Miḍrāb Bahādur as the governor of Fars province. However, after his sudden death, Ibrāhīm Sulṭān became the governor of Fars instead.Footnote 12
At the beginning of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s rule of Fars, Mīrzā Bāyqarā attacked Shiraz with the encouragement of Iskandar Sulṭān, the former governor of Fars. Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s forces were defeated near Bayḍāʾ.Footnote 13 Ibrāhīm Sulṭān lost his position in Shiraz for more than five months (Rabīʿ I to Ramaḍān 818 AH/May to November 1415 AD), until his father Shāhrukh returned and helped him to regain the governorship.Footnote 14 This time Shāhrukh made more systematic provisions to strengthen his son’s position as the ruler of Fars. Therefore, the second half of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s life was spent peacefully in Shiraz, until his sudden death.
After the restoration of his rule over Fars, there are two main points about Ibrāhīm Sulṭān in the historical documents: first, his skillful ability in war, such as with Azerbaijan (823 AH/1420 AD and 832 AH/1429 AD), Nakhchivan (824 AH/1421 AD) and Khuzestan (825 AH/1422 AD), where he fought alongside his father, Shāhrukh; second, his patronage of the arts and literature, which spread his fame from Shiraz to Samarqand and Herat. Nearly all Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s cultural and artistic achievements occurred when he was the governor of Fars.
Ibrāhīm Sulṭān took the throne in Shiraz from his rebellious cousin Iskandar Sulṭān (1410–14 AD). Ibrāhīm Sulṭān and his cousin had different political views. However, in terms of the patronage of the arts, Ibrāhīm Sulṭān is regarded as the one who continued what Iskandar Sulṭān had started. It is known that Iskandar Sulṭān had established an atelier in Shiraz and supported the arts, especially the production of important literary manuscripts.Footnote 15 In fact, Ibrāhīm Sulṭān stepped into Iskandar Sulṭān’s shoes and revived his atelier. A comparative study of the works produced during the reigns of these two Tīmūrid princes in Shiraz reveals the influence of Iskandar Sulṭān’s atelier on the style and decoration of the manuscripts ordered by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān. We even know of some artists, such as Maḥmūd al-Ḥusaynī, Jalāl al-Dīn Maḥmūd al-Mughīthī and Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad Mudhahhib, who worked under the rule of both princes.Footnote 16 After the fall of Iskandar Sulṭān, these artists joined Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s atelier.
Ibrāhīm Sulṭān was versed in literature and he held the scholars in high esteem and gave them a great deal of support and encouragement. There are a few literary works attributed to Ibrāhīm Sulṭān. Scholars such as Sharaf al-Dīn ʿAlī Yazdī, Ḥāfiẓ Abrū, Kamāl al-Dīn b. Ghīyāth al-Dīn Shīrāzī, Ṭālib Jājrumī, Hājjī Manṣūr, Shujāʿ and Ḥāfiẓ ʿAllāf Shīrāzī wrote their books under his patronage and dedicated them to him. An inventory of the artists and the valuable manuscripts of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s library has been compiled and is still being expanded.Footnote 17 These impressive activities have put Ibrāhīm Sulṭān at the top of the patrons of the arts in the Tīmūrid era. In addition to his fame as a patron of the arts, Ibrāhīm Sulṭān himself was a great artist.
Ibrāhīm Sulṭān and Calligraphy
Ibrāhīm Sulṭān was a calligrapher and he was as famous as his brother Bāysunqur Mīrzā for calligraphy. He wrote in the “six scripts” (aql ām sitta) following the style of Yāqūt al-Mustaʿsimī. Dawlat-shāh Samarqandī (1438–94 AD) hinted at this.Footnote 18 The influence of Yāqūt on the calligraphers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries AD who wrote in the “six scripts” was apparent. Though Ibrāhīm Sulṭān was not an exception to this influence, he has to be considered as the follower of Pīr-Muḥammad Shīrāzī, a lesser known calligrapher of the fourteenth–fifteenth century AD.
Pīr-Muḥammad Shirazi was Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s master in calligraphy. Pīr-Muḥammad wrote in the “six scripts” so masterfully that he was called the “Yāqūt-e Thānī” (the second Yāqūt).Footnote 19 It is believed that Pīr-Muḥammad wrote many inscriptions on the stone tombs, shrines and monuments in Shiraz.Footnote 20 However, his only known inscription is in the Jāmiʿ ʿAtīq mosque.Footnote 21 The writing style of this inscription indicates that Ibrāhīm Sulṭān followed the style of his master to some extent.
In the historical documents, Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s talent in calligraphy has been praised and a number of works attributed to him have been mentioned,Footnote 22 such as his sarmashqs (examples of calligraphy), which changed hands amongst calligraphers, a tile inscription in Saʿdī’s tomb, and some inscriptions in the Dār al-Ṣafā and Dār al-Aytām monuments in Shiraz. Unfortunately, none of these works have survived, but their descriptions in the historical documents reveal a special characteristic of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s style in calligraphy, which is his preference for using large scripts. This is the reason why he was well known for the calligraphy of the inscriptions as well as the monumental Qurʾān manuscripts. This particular type of calligraphy spread amongst Yāqūt’s followers in the fourteenth century AD, and it stood out especially in the thuluth and muḥaqqaq scripts. Ibrāhīm Sulṭān also preferred these two types of scripts to the other aql ām sitta.
There are three inscriptions of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān in Tachara Palace in Persepolis and an important one in the shrine of ʿPal b. Ḥamza in Shiraz.Footnote 23 All of these inscriptions were written in the thuluth script. There is a Qurʾān manuscript in the kūfī script, which is in the library of Astān Quds Razavī, the holy shrine in Mashhad. This Qurʾān is attributed to Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the sixth Imam of the Shiʿa. The last page of this manuscript had been damaged, and Ibrāhīm Sulṭān rewrote it in the thuluth script.Footnote 24 It is reported that there is a page of album (muraqqaʿ) in the bold thuluth, naskh and gold riqāʿ scripts.Footnote 25 There is also a two-volume Qurʾān in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is considered to be Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s unique transcription in the naskh script.Footnote 26
In addition, a famous Qurʾān manuscript of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān is in the library of Astān Quds Razavī, which he had endowed to the shrine of ʿAlī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā.Footnote 27 This Qurʾān is a Muntakhab al-Suwar and it is similar to the one in the Pars museum in terms of dimensions, ruling (jadwal), ruling board (misṭara), calligraphy style and illumination. Therefore, it is more relevant to this study.
Codicology of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s Musḥ ạf in the Pars Museum
Dimensions
The ISM’s cover measures 66 cm by 46 cm and each leaf is 65 cm by 44 cm. In terms of size, the ISM is amongst the few monumental volumes of the Qurʾān produced from the early fourteenth to the middle of the fifteenth century AD in the Islamic lands. The history of such Qurʾāns goes back to the Qurʾān of thirty sections (juzʾ) ordered by Sulṭān Uljāytū. This Qurʾān measures 72 cm by 50 cm and it was produced from 1306 to 1313 AD in Baghdad.Footnote 28 However, other Qurʾāns of a similar size were produced in the latter half of the fourteenth century AD.Footnote 29 Such monumental Qurʾāns were also transcribed in Shiraz, including the Hifdah-Man.Footnote 30 Therefore, the ISM and Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s Qurʾān manuscript in the library of Astān Quds Razavī are the latest examples from this period produced in such large sizes.
Binding
The binding of the ISM is of brown leather and the inner lining of the binding is of thin cardboard. The binding is decorated with a large medallion and corners in a frame measuring 55 cm by 34 cm. The border of the binding is decorated with a stamped chain design (ḍarbī zanjīrī). The medallion is in the form of chalīpā, with smaller head medallions at the top and bottom. Inside this medallion, there is another medallion with two head medallions. The medallion and the corners are covered with an intricate arabesque motif and latticework technique (mushabbak). Due to the latticework technique, this arabesque design has changed in some parts such as the form of stems, flowers and leaves (Figure 1).
The medallion and the corners with arabesque design on the outer binding (drawn by hand and graphics software).
Source: The Qurʾān Calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān, dated 830 AH/1427 AD, endowed to the holy shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh, dated 834 AH/1431 AD, Shiraz, Pars Museum, Ms. 550.
The doublure is also decorated with a medallion and corners and arabesque motifs made by stamping. However, the inner and outer parts of the binding have different designs (Figure 2).
The medallion and the corners with arabesque design on the inner binding (drawn by hand and graphics software).
Source: The Qurʾān Calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān, dated 830 AH/1427 AD, endowed to the holy shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh, dated 834 AH/1431 AD, Shiraz, Pars Museum, Ms. 550.
The Order of the Pages
The ISM is made of thirty-six leaves (seventy-two pages) that have been mostly arranged in binion gatherings. The transcription of this book starts from the back of the first leaf and it ends with a colophon (tarqīma) on the thirty-fourth leaf. The endowment note of the ISM is also written on the back of this leaf. The last two leaves are left blank. This book contains eighteen small chapters (sūras) of the Qurʾān (Table 1). The Ibrāhīm Sulṭān Qurʾān manuscript in the library of Astān Quds Razavī contains twelve sūras, eight of which are the same as the ISM.Footnote 31
The Qurʾān, Calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān, dated 830 AH/1427AD, endowed to the holy shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh, dated 834 AH/1431 AD, Shiraz, Pars Museum, Ms. 550.
Illumination and Ruling
The illuminations of this book include the opening double page, the sūra heading cartouches, the endowment medallion, the roundels amongst the verses, and the marking of fifth and tenth verses (khams and ʿashr) in the margins of the pages. The illuminations follow the colorful floral style that was common in the fifteenth century AD. Different colors such as cinnabar (red), white, black, turquoise and green have been used in the illuminations, but the main colors are gold and lapis. Lapis is mostly the field color and gold has been used for drawing the motifs. Except in the repeated motifs (vāgīra) of the opening double page and the endowment medallion on the last page, the illumination designs are in the floral pattern (khatāʾī). The scroll arabesque is also seen in some of the sūra heading cartouches (Figure 3).
The opening double page.
Source: The Qurʾān Calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān, dated 830 AH/1427 AD, endowed to the holy shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh, dated 834 AH/1431A.D, fols. 1b-2a. Shiraz, Pars Museum, Ms. 550.
The illumination of this book follows a style that Elaine Wright names “the blue-and-gold floral.” She believes that this style existed at least from the Muẓaffarid to the end of the Tīmūrid era.Footnote 32 Even-edged wide bands in the cartouches, small pear-shaped elements in the exterior contour of the opening double page, and the golden scroll arabesque motifs in the illumination of the ISM exactly correspond to the basic features of the blue-and-gold floral style.
The features of the ISM’s illumination resemble some manuscripts produced under Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s patronage, such as the three divans kept in the National Library of France (no. 1469),Footnote 33 the Qurʾān in the Khalili Collection,Footnote 34 the anthology (jung) in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul (no. 1997),Footnote 35 and the Shāhnāma in the Bodleian Library (no. 176).Footnote 36
The illuminator of the Bodleian and the Istanbul volumes is called Naṣr al-Sulṭānī, believed to be none other than Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad Mudhahhib, who was the head of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s library in 835 AH/1431 AD in Shiraz.Footnote 37 The ISM was illuminated shortly before this time (1427–31). Therefore, it is likely that the illuminations were done under the supervision of Naṣir al-Dīn Muḥammad Mudhahhib or even by his own hands.
The ruling of the ordinary pages in the ISM measures approximately 49 cm by 33 cm. The variation in size goes back to the “malevolence of quadrature” (tarbīʿ), an old belief in Islamic culture.Footnote 38 There are different ways of avoiding tarbīʿ in the ruling, including altering the ninety-degree angle. The irregularity of the ruling varies by approximately one centimeter, which makes it difficult to measure the margins of the pages accurately. The average size of the margins of the ordinary pages is 9 cm at the top, 7 cm at the bottom, 3 cm on the left, and 8.5 cm on the right.
The ruling of the ordinary pages, like the opening double page, is divided into three sections, but they are not separated by the dividing lines. In the top and bottom sections of every page, two lines of the Qurʾān are written in bold thuluth, tending towards the muḥaqqaq script. The space between the two lines is filled with five lines in the rayḥānī script. Therefore, every page includes seven lines in large and small scripts. The ruling board (misṭara) of the bold thuluth script and the rayḥānī script is 10 cm and 5 cm respectively (Figure 4).
Typical double page with sura heading cartouche of al-Dukhan and the marking of fifth and tenth verses (khams and ʿashr) in the margin. Bold thuluth (tending towards muḥaqqaq) and rayḥānī scripts.
Source: The Qurʾān Calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān, dated 830 AH/1427 AD, endowed to the holy shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh, dated 834 AH/1431 AD fols. 23a-24b. Shiraz, Pars Museum, Ms. 550.
The size and the location of the sūra heading cartouches follow the ruling board (misṭara) of the page in the Qurʾān manuscripts and depend on where the previous sūra has ended. In this volume, most of the sūra heading cartouches are between 9.5 cm and 10.5 cm in breadth, equivalent to the size of the ruling board of a large line or two small lines. Therefore, if a sūra heading cartouche is placed at the top or bottom of the page, it would replace a large line, and if it is placed in the middle of the page, it would replace two small lines (Figure 4). An exception to this rule is the Sūrat al-Naṣr (32a) with a breadth of 14.6 cm, which is equivalent to the size of the ruling board of three small lines, and is considered to be the broadest sūra heading cartouche. Two other exceptions are the al-Dīn and al-Kawthar sūras (31a), measuring 3.3 cm and 5.5 cm respectively, which are the narrowest sūra heading cartouches.
Ibrāhīm Sulṭān has made a mistake in the transcription of the opening words of the basmalah, which is seen under the illumination of the al-Ikhlās sūra heading cartouche (Figure 5).
Al-Ikhlās sura heading cartouche and verses.
Source: The Qurʾān Calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān, dated 830 AH/1427 AD, endowed to the holy shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh, dated 834 AH/1431 AD, fol. 33a. Shiraz, Pars Museum, Ms. 550.
The Calligraphy Style
As mentioned above, the ISM has been transcribed in the thuluth and rayḥānī scripts. The thuluth is in black ink outlined in gold, and the rayḥānī is in gold ink outlined in black. The diacritical marks are in black ink. In the rayḥānī script, the eyes of the letters are filled with black and lapis, and in the thuluth script, they are either filled with gold or left blank. The dots are square and round in these two scripts.
The measurement of the ruling board (misṭara) and some letters show that the thuluth script is twice as wide as the rayḥānī script. These large and small scripts are not necessarily uniform in terms of shape, size and some other elements, but they show that this Qurʾān manuscript was written by the same scribe. Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s Qurʾān in the library of Astān Quds Razavī was transcribed in the same manner.
The vertical letters in the thuluth script are highly elongated. This point is more prominent in some letters such as alif and lām, because they cover almost the whole width of the line. Furthermore, in the majority of the lines, a word or a part of the word has parted from its rightful place and been superscripted. These are outstanding features of the Islamic epigraphy style that was common in the Tīmūrid era.
The historians often rely on Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s inscriptions when describing his skill in calligraphy.Footnote 39 As mentioned before, there is an inscription of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān at the entrance of the holy shrine of ʿAlī b. Ḥamza in Shiraz (Figure 6), which is assumed to be the remains of his monuments near the gate of Iṣtakhr.Footnote 40 The text of this inscription includes a saying of the prophet Ibrāhīm, written in the thuluth script and carved into stone. This inscription has been transcribed in a similar way to the bold thuluth script of the two Qurʾān manuscripts, which are in the Pars museum and the library of Astān Quds Razavī (Figures 6, 7 and 8). A comparative study of these examples reveals that Ibrāhīm Sulṭān followed a similar style in the calligraphy of his inscriptions and Qurʾāns. Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s transcription of the monumental Qurʾāns resulted from his interest and skill in epigraphy.
Ibrahim Sulṭān’s inscription at the entrance of the holy shrine of ʿAlī b. Ḥamza in Shiraz. The thuluth script (n.d.).
A typical line of the bold thuluth script (tending towards muḥaqqaq script).
Source: The Qurʾān Calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān, dated 830 AH/1427 AD, endowed to the holy shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh, dated 834 AH/1431 AD, fol. 29a. Shiraz, Pars Museum, Ms. 550.
A typical line of the bold thuluth script.
Source: The Qurʾān Calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān and endowed to the holy shrine of ʿAlī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā, dated 827 AH/1424 AD, Mashhad, The library of Astān Quds Razavī, Ms. 414.
The Colophon and Endowment
The colophon is written on the thirty-fourth leaf just after the Sūrat al-Nās in four lines, three of which are in the tawqīʿ script and one in the bold thuluth script (Figure 9). The text of the colophon reads:
The colophon.
Source: The Qurʾān Calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān, dated 830 AH /1427 AD, endowed to the holy shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh, dated 834 AH/1431 AD, fol. 34a. Shiraz, Pars Museum, Ms. 550.
Ibrāhīm Sulṭān finished this volume on the fourth day of Ramaḍān in 830 AH/29 June 1427 AD. The transcription of his Qurʾān manuscript which is at the Metropolitan Museum was also finished on this date.Footnote 42 It is surprising that the transcription of both Qurʾāns ended on the same day. Of course, it seems probable that only the colophons were written on the same day as the end of the transcription. It is interesting that the texts of both colophons (tarqīma) were written in the same way.Footnote 43 At any rate, four years after the completion date of the transcription, the ISM was endowed to Shāh-Chirāgh (Ramaḍan 834 AH/May 1431 AD). The text of the endowment was written in the naskh script and black ink on the back of the thirty-fourth leaf. This text is inside a large round medallion and it contains seventeen lines (Figure 10).Footnote 44
The endowment.
Source: The Qurʾān Calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān, dated 830 AH/1427 AD, endowed to the holy shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh, dated 834 AH/1431 AD, fol. 34a. Shiraz, Pars Museum, Ms. 550.
In the colophon of the Qurʾān manuscript in the library of Astān Quds Razavī, it is stated that this Qurʾān has been transcribed and endowed as the blessing of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s pilgrimage to the shrine of ʿAlī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā in Mashhad. However, there is no evidence in the ISM to show that the transcription of this Qurʾān was firstly intended to be endowed to the shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh. Anyhow, the endowment of such fine and monumental Qurʾāns to the shrines of Shiʿa Imams in Mashhad and Shiraz can be seen in the light of the friendly relationship between the Tīmūrid court and the Shiʿas in Iran.
The Damage and Restoration
The passing of time has left slight scratches and wear on the binding of the book. Due to damage to the stamped leather of the binding, some pieces of the lattice arabesque motifs are missing. There were two major areas of damage to the leather of the back cover, measuring 28×22 cm and 22×20 cm. This damage was repaired using some leather pieces from another old book binding. These leather pieces were separated from a large stamped (ḍarbī) binding with arabesque motifs and a medallion and corner design. The motifs on the leather pieces do not correspond exactly to those on the main binding but they are close.
The dryness and thinness of the leaves have caused some cracks, especially near the spine. This damage, often caused by turning leaves, has been repaired using long strips of paper. The square plain border of the first and the thirty-fourth leaves and the plain border near the edge of the second and thirty-third leaves have also been protected with strips of paper. This paper is lighter in color and thicker than the original and it has been used in other parts of the ISM. Fortunately, the damage and restoration have not gone beyond the margin and they have not affected the text except on the last few leaves (27–34). The most significant restoration of these leaves include: first, the sūra heading cartouches of al-Kāfirūn, al-Naṣr, al-Masad, al-Falaq and al-Nās; second, the marks of the fifth and tenth verses (khams and ʿashr); and, finally, the missing words in the text of verses, the colophon (tarqīma) and the endowment of the Qurʾān.
The restoration of the illuminations of the last few leaves corresponds closely to the original design and color. The rewriting of the missing texts has been carried out meticulously. Furthermore, a few stains are seen on some leaves, possibly due to damp in the place where the Qurʾān was kept.
Conclusion
There is a four-year gap between the transcription and the endowment of this Qurʾān (ISM). This delay might be due to the processes of completing the manuscript, such as the ruling, the illumination and the binding. It is also possible that this Qurʾān had been transcribed for a different reason and it was later endowed to the Shāh-Chirāgh shrine. Anyway, the endowment of this Qurʾān to the most important shrine in Shiraz reveals Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s devotion to Shiʿa Muslims.
This Qurʾān (ISM) is one of the most brilliant manuscripts produced in Shiraz in the Tīmūrid era. The format of this book (a selection of Qurʾān sūras) corresponds to the prevalent style of selected literary manuscripts in Shiraz at that time. The anthology (jung) manuscripts produced in Iskandar Sulṭān and Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s ateliers are good examples of this format. The codicology of the ISM, including paper size, page format and calligraphic style, is similar to the Qurʾān in the library of Astān Quds Razavī. Ibrāhīm Sulṭān transcribed both manuscripts in the same large and small scripts. The large scripts of these two monumental Qurʾāns are impressive. This style of writing is Ibrāhīm Sulṭān’s main quality in transcribing these Qurʾāns and it is inspired by his devotion to epigraphy.
ār-i ʿAjam, 745–9.
