Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator
Lot 4•
A rare Qur'an in 30 juz', copied by Ahmad 'Amir Zayd al-Shafi'i Arabian Peninsula, possibly Hejaz, completed on Friday, 26 days after Rabi' II 1293/21st May 1876(30)
22 May 2025, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£15,000 - £20,000
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Oliver White
Head of Department
A rare Qur'an in 30 juz', copied by Ahmad 'Amir Zayd al-Shafi'i
Arabian Peninsula, possibly Hejaz, completed on Friday, 26 days after Rabi' II 1293/21st May 1876
Arabian Peninsula, possibly Hejaz, completed on Friday, 26 days after Rabi' II 1293/21st May 1876
Arabic manuscript on paper, 30 volumes, each with approximately 16-18 leaves, catch-words, 11 lines to the page written in bold black naskhi, verse-endings marked with red inverted commas, first two leaves of first Juz' with gilt decorations above and below the first two sura, sura headings written in riqa' in red, contemporary red morocco with flaps, covers ruled in blind with three decorative medallions of arabesque designs to covers, also in blind, paper labels on upper covers of some volumes (remains of labels on others)
230 by 165 mm.(30)
230 by 165 mm.(30)
Footnotes
Provenance
With Bloomsbury Auctions.
Private collection, USA.
While thirty-volume Qur'ans are commonly seen in Sini (Chinese) or Maghribi (North African) manuscripts, it is rare in those produced in the Arabian Peninsula. Only the first double page of the first volume of our manuscript is illuminated, and this in a rather provincial manner.
The division of the Qur'an into 30 equal parts was often done to facilitate the reader to recite the entire work within one calendar month. This was particularly efficient practice within the context of a communal mosque, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, because it facilitated individuals reading separate juz' simultaneously.
The Shafei name is a prominent one in the Hijaz area of Saudi Arabia, possibly with connections to the historical Al-Shafei Mosque in Jeddah. Each of the volumes has a dedication to Ahmad Muhammad, son of Shaykh Muhammad al-Banhawi and Shaykh Muhammad Hijazi Zaghlul. It is possible that they were regional potentates in the peninsula who comissioned the manuscript.