Frontispiece and leaf of a Qur'an

The collection that belonged to the Great Mosque of Kairouan was transferred to the National Library of Tunis in 1967. It was stored there for sixteen years and then moved to the Musée des Arts Islamiques of Raqqada.

The gold Kufic script is outlined by brown. Chemical analyses show that it is made of gold dust mixed with water and egg white, which was used as a fixative. The vowels are indicated by red diacritic dots, with two superposed dots for the tanwîn and green and blue respectively for the hamza and the shadda, in accordance with the method Abî al-Aswad al-Du'alî developed in the mid-seventh century to ensure better understanding of the terms used in the Qur'an, and to avoid any confusion. Short diagonal lines are also used for the vowel dots, in accordance with the method created by al-Hajjaj ibn Yûsuf (d. 714).

The title of the sura is inscribed in gold Kufic outlined in black and placed in a rectangle with white background decorated with faded brown plant motifs. This is trimmed in a carefully drawn golden frame adorned with a golden tress. There is a medallion of the same colour near the margin. The gold rosette indicating the end of the preceding sura is extended horizontally with a gold intertwined design outlined with black.

The illumination on the frontispiece is a fine specimen of its kind. The illustration comprises a rectangular field in gold, punctuated with black and outlined with a braided frame. The central area is divided into two squares highlighted with gold and black bandlets, which are divided into four triangles linked at the top by a golden braid. These geometric forms are clearly outlined in white. The ground of the central section is covered with floral geometrical motifs in gold, in contrast with the black ink. Within each square, the edges of the triangles are mainly covered with dog-toothed ornaments, while the summits and bases are adorned with a five-lobed vine leaf inscribed within a circle. The decorative interest of this illumination resides in the variety of triangles found in the two conjoined squares.

Kufic script, characteristic of the first centuries of Islam, was fashionable throughout the Muslim world and spread from the Atlantic shores to the Indian Ocean. The ornaments and decorations on the two leaves are identical to those found in Yemen, Iraq and Egypt at the same period. The diacritic signs indicated by the red dots are similar to those used by the Iraqi method; those indicated by green and yellow dots use the tradition of Andalusia. This mingling bears witness to the fact that Kairouan was, in the Middle Ages, a hub of artistic trends sweeping the Islamic world of the time. Other copies of the Qur'an similar to this one are found in the old library of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, as well as in museums and libraries in Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Europe[1].

[2] Coran, technique, origine, date, Londres, British Library (Add. 11735, ff. 1v-2r).