Walters Ms. W.559, Koran al-Qurʾān القرآن scribe Mubārakshāh ibn Quṭb مباركشاه بن قطب Nicknamed zarrīn qalam (golden pen), Mubārakshāh was one of the six pupils of the illustrious calligrapher Yāqūt al-Mustaʿṣimī (d. 698 AH / 1298 CE). Principal cataloger Gacek, Adam Cataloger Landau, Amy Cataloger Smith, Sita Copy editor Bockrath, Diane Contributor Barrera, Christina Contributor Emery, Doug Contributor Herbert, Lynley Contributor Noel, William Contributor Simpson, Shreve Contributor Tabritha, Ariel Contributor Toth, Michael B. Contributor Valle, Chiara Conservator Jewell, Stephanie Conservator Quandt, Abigail The Walters Art Museum

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 This illuminated copy of the Qur’an was excecuted in Shaʿbān 723 AH / 1323 CE by Mubārakshāh ibn Quṭb, honored with the epithet zarrīn qalam (golden pen). Mubārakshāh ibn Quṭb was one of the six pupils of the illustrious calligrapher Yāqūt al-Mustaʿṣimī (d. 698 AH / 1298 CE). This manuscript, with a colophon signed and dated by Mubārakshāh (fol. 432a), was produced in Ilkhanid, Iran. It opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece of geometric design painted in blue, black, gold, and green (fols. 1b-2a). Additional ornamentation includes verse markers and textual dividers. The Qur'anic text is written in naskh script in black ink with chapter headings in gold tawqī‘ outlined in black. The Persian interlinear translation in red naskh likely belongs to a later stage of the manuscript's history, when it was rebound and furnished with new margins. The black goatskin binding has a gold-tooled design of a central lobed medallion, pendants, and cornerpieces with doublures of brown leather and filigree decoration. It probably dates to the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE. Baltimore The Walters Art Museum W.559 The primary language in this manuscript is Arabic. The secondary language of this manuscript is Persian. 1b - 432a al-Qurʾān القرآن scribe katabahu al-faqīru ilá Allāhi taʿālá /1/ Mubākshāhu ibn Quṭbin ghafara Allāhu /2/ dhunūbahumā wa-satara ʿuyūbahumā fī Shaʿbāni /3/ sanata thalāth wa-ʿishrīna wa-sabʿa miʾatin /4/ ḥāmidan li-Llāhi taʿālá ʿalá niʿamihi wa-muṣalliyan /5/ ʿalá nabīyihi Muḥammadin wa-ālihi al-ghurari al-kirāmi /6/ al-ṭayyibīna al-ṭāhirīna wa-musalliman taslīman /7/ Gives the name of the calligrapher Mubākshāh ibn Quṭb and the date of copying

Dark cream laid Persian paper inlaid into later margins, probably in the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE

 Foliation: i+432+i18.5 13.5 11.0 6.5

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Framing lines in dark blue, black, and gold Written in small naskh in black ink; sūrah headings in gold tawqīʿ outlined in black; naskh in red ink for interlinear Persian translation Double-page frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a); double-page opening decoration (fols. 2b-3a); illuminated rosettes with colored dots for verse markers; frequent marginal medallions for verse counts of ten and textual dividers, such as juzʾ and rubʿ; polychrome frame Right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece Frontispiece This double-page illuminated frontispiece is comprised of two rectangles surrounded by a trefoil border in grisaille. The inner border is gold strapwork with blue squares. The central area is an intricate design of geometric forms and arabesques in blue, black, gold, and green. Left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece Frontispiece This double-page illuminated frontispiece is comprised of two rectangles surrounded by a trefoil border in grisaille. The inner border is gold strapwork with blue squares. The central area is an intricate design of geometric forms and arabesques in blue, black, gold, and green. Incipit page for chapter 1 of the Qur'an Surat al-fātiha Incipit This opening page is inscribed with the first chapter of the Qur'an (Sūrat al-fātiḥah). The Qur'anic text is written in black naskh, and the Persian interlinear translation is in red. Initial verses of chapter 2 of the Qur'an Sūrat al-baqarah Text page This text page is the beginning of Sūrat al-baqarah. The black naskh is the Qur'anic text and the text in red is the interlinear Persian translation.

Probably tenth century AH / sixteenth CE; black goatskin (with flap); gold-tooled central lobed oval with pendants and cornerpieces decorated with floral and vine motif; gold-tooled frame; doublures of brown leather with a lobed oval, pendants, and cornerpieces, all with filigree decoration on a dark blue ground

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