A monumental Double line probably from the 'Baysunghur' Qur'an, Herat or Samarqand, circa 1400

Text: surat al-'alaq (XCVI), part of verse 2 - part of verse 6
Arabic manuscript on thick cream paper, 2 lines of text written in bold muhaqqaq script in dark brown ink with diacritics and vowel points in dark brown, verso blank

In fair overall condition, the paper has been slightly split from rolling, as viewed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This fragment is likely to have originated from the famous Qur'an associated with the Timurid prince Baysunghur ibn Shahrukh. According to David James "the main cause for its fame is its vast size, for the complete pages that survive measure about 177 by 101cm. The text of this Qur'an was copied in seven lines on one side of these enormous sheets, the other side being left blank. Assuming the entire text of the Qur'an was transcribed, approximately 800 bifolios would have been required to contain it". He adds that the association with Baysunghur dates back to the early 19^th century when the noted collector of Oriental manuscripts, James Baillie Fraser, saw a section of this Qur'an in Quchan, in north-east Iran. Although Baysunghur was a competent calligrapher, there is no historical evidence that he undertook so arduous a task as copying a Qur'an of this size since it would have taken between six and eight months to complete the work on the assumption that he was able to find the time to copy ten pages a day. The undertaking would certainly not have gone unnoticed by his contemporaries and would have been recorded in the chronicles of the time. James concludes that the attribution was probably based on circumstantial evidence since at one stage the manuscript was kept in the mausoleum of his grandfather, Timur in Samarqand (James, 1992, pp.18-25). It remained there until the city was captured by Nadir Shah in the 18^th century. The Shah's troops dismembered the manuscript and stole many of its leaves, which were later lost or badly damaged.

However, in the exhibition catalogue, Timur and the Princely Vision, it was suggested that in fact the manuscript fitted more naturally under the patronage of Timur himself, and that the great marble stand commissioned by Ulug Beg after Timur's death in 1405, and originally located in the main chamber of the Friday Mosque at Samarqand, was probably made specifically for this Qur'an. Soudavar continues this argument with convincing technical details of the surface area of paper needed for such a manuscript, its weight, the estimated thickness of its spine and so on, all of which support the theory of Timur's, not Baysunghur's, patronage (see Soudavar, A., Art of the Persian Courts, 1992, cat.20a-b, pp.59-62).

Two small peculiarities must also be mentioned in connection with the present manuscript.  On close inspection it can be seen that there are feint pencil markings around the text, visible in areas where the ink has deteriorated, something yet to be recorded on other leaves and lines from the Baysunghur Qur'an.  Since the exact details of the scribes involved in the production of this manuscript are unknown, it is unclear what precise bearing these markings have on both this example and the manuscript as a whole.  It may be that they were the result of some restoration, aiding the re-inking of some of the lettering at a later date.  Clearly this two-line section fell into a fair degree of disrepair over the centuries and in order to keep it from further deterioration, the paper, whilst in keeping with a date of production circa 1400, has been split and re-laid.

Other pages or fragments are in the Astan-i Quds Library, Mashhad; the Gulistan Library,  the Reza-i Abbasi Museum, the Malik Library, the Museum of Ancient Iran, and the National Library of Iran, Tehran; the Metropolitan Museum, New York; The Art and History Trust Collection, Washington DC; the David Collection, Copenhagen; the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, London.

Pages or fragments from this Qur'an were included  in the following sales: Sotheby's, Geneva, 25 June 1985, lot 18 (4 lines); Christie's, London, 25 November 1985, lot 105 (1 line); Sotheby's, London, 10 October 1988, lot 168 (1 page) and lot 169 ( 3 lines including sura heading, basmallah and part of verse 1); Christie's, London, 21 October 1993, lot 46 (1 line); Drouot, Paris, 23 April 1994, lot 341 (2 lines); Sotheby's, London, 22 April 1999, lot 15 (2 lines, same fragment as Paris sale); Sotheby's, London, 12 October 2000, lot 15 (2 lines); Bonhams, London, 1 May 2003, lot 56 (1 page copied in the 18^th/19^th century) and Christie's, London, 27 April 2004, lot 22 (1 page).