Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 107. A rare teaching Qur'an commissioned by the Mamluk Sultan Qaytbay (r.1468-96), copied by Khattab ibn 'Umar al-Danjawi, Egypt, probably Cairo, dated 890 AH/1485-86 AD.

A rare teaching Qur'an commissioned by the Mamluk Sultan Qaytbay (r.1468-96), copied by Khattab ibn 'Umar al-Danjawi, Egypt, probably Cairo, dated 890 AH/1485-86 AD

Auction Closed

October 27, 03:41 PM GMT

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Arabic manuscript on paper, 505 leaves, 13 lines to the page, written in naskh script in black ink, with gold and polychrome rosette verse markers, marginal text markers and surah headings in gold thuluth script, each surah heading with a short commentary below in alternating red and blue naskh script, margins ruled in gold and blue, marginal commentary written diagonally in red and blue naskh script, the opening illuminated double page is a 19th century Ottoman replacement, an illuminated panel on f.491a with the colophon written in gold thuluth script, the last 14 leaves with an appendix, in original stamped and gilt brown morocco, with flap

22.2 by 16.5cm.

Ex-collection Jafar Ghazi, Munich, (d.2007).
Christie's London, 23 April 2012, lot 1.

This is a rare and unusual Qur’an commissioned by the Mamluk Sultan Qaytbay (r.1468-96) probably for teaching purposes at the court or at a school of a mosque. It was customary for Mamluk rulers to commission such manuscripts from scribes who were also teachers.

The colophon of the manuscript is signed by Khattab ibn 'Umar al-Danjawi and dated Sha'ban 890 AH/1485-86 AD. It also states that this copy was ordered by Sultan al-Ashraf Abu al-Nasr Qaytbay. Although the colophon was previously thought to have been added, further investigation has confirmed that the paper of the colophon is the same as the original paper of the text block of the manuscript.

Khattab ibn ‘Umar al-Dinjawi was a royal scribe who worked for Sultan Qaytbay and for the emir, Yashbak min Mahdi, Qaytbay’s dawadar or Great Secretary. Khattab was known for being a Qur’an reciter, calligrapher and a connoisseur of literature. He was also commissioned by Qaytbay to complete a monumental Qur’an dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad’s tomb, begun by the scribe Shahin but who died before completing it (Iyas, 1961-75, p.204).

The commentary underneath the surah headings includes teaching instructions such as the time of revelation of each surah. The final fourteen folios have an appendix which contains an introduction, seven short chapters and a treatise on letters (huruf) written by the scribe of this text criticising other scribes who make unauthorised changes to the text of the Qur’an. He states that he is following the version of Basra according to Abu ‘Amr, the Arab linguist. The seven chapters lists the names of the readers who provided the seven authorised variants of the Qur’an. The chapters also explain the notation system used for correct pronunciation, and the number of surahs, words and letters in the Qur’an.

The present lot is comparable to another Mamluk Qur’an copied by ‘Abdallah Yusuf Baha-yi al-Din al-Shafu’i al-Misri in Cairo, dated 844 AH/1440 AD, in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection. It has similar marginal commentary and two folios with Qur’anic critical commentary at the end (Raby 1992, no.13, pp.58-61).