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Two leaves of the Blue Qur’an
(ورقتان من القرآن الأزرق)

Title	Two leaves of the Blue Qur’an
Title Original	ورقتان من القرآن الأزرق
Publication Date:	The second half of the 4th century AH / 10th century AD
Publication Place	Very probably from Kairouan, a great centre for book production at that time. - Museum of Islamic Arts, Raqqada, Kairouan
Subject	Indigo blue colored paper, decorated.
Type	Other
Language	Undetermined
Digital	Yes
Manuscript	Yes
Physical Dimensions	مستطيلة؛ العرض: 31 سم؛ الطول 41 سم؛ خمسة عشر سطراً
Library:	Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID	Rutbi 196
Record ID	object;ISL;tn;Mus01;2;ar
Library Location	Museum of Islamic Arts, Raqqada, Kairouan
Date	The second half of the 4th century AH / 10th century AD
Notes	These two pages are taken from a unique copy of the Holy Qur’an, written in the Kufic script. They include verses from Surat 31 (Surat Luqman), from verse 1 to verse 3, and a verse from Surat Al-Sajdah (Surat No. 32), which is verse 34. Preliminary analyzes confirmed that the indigo blue color used for coloring was brought from Egypt or from India, a country with which trade had begun to grow. From the 4th century AH (10th century AD). The gold paint was adhered to the parchment using an egg-white substance. The compact writing of the vowels is devoid of any sign of diacritical marks, and the letters are not semicoloned. As for the title of the surah, it was written inside a gilded band, drawn using several floral decorative elements, connected to a gilded palm leaf protruding towards the margin, inspired by the toric decoration adorned with flowers. On the other hand, the division between the verses is highlighted with silver flowers that have blackened due to oxidation. Contrary to what is supported by some art historians, the source of the various leaves of the Qur’an, copied on blue-colored parchment and distributed in several museums and art collections around the world, do not go back to the Mashhad region in Iran or to Spain. Rather, all of them - the leaves - go back to the blue-colored copy of the Qur’an kept in the library of the Grand Mosque of Kairouan. This is proven by the similarity between its dimensions, the number of lines, its writing, and its gilding.
Sample Text	Mourad Rammah “Two Leaves from the Blue Qur’an” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tn;Mus01;2;ar
Bu sayfanın künyesi	Prepared by:Mourad RAMMAHNé en 1953 à Kairouan, docteur en archéologie islamique, Mourad Rammah est le conservateur de la médina de Kairouan. Lauréat du prix Agha Khan d'architecture, il publie divers articles sur l'histoire de l'archéologie médiévale islamique en Tunisie et participe à différentes expositions sur l'architecture islamique. De 1982 à 1994, il est en charge du département de muséographie du Centre des arts et des civilisations islamiques. Mourad Rammah est également directeur du Centre des manuscrits de Kairouan.
Seçili bibliyografya	De Kairouan a Carthage(exhibition catalogue), Tunis, 1995, p.41.Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia, pp.159–62, 182–3.

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Two leaves of the Blue Qur’an

(ورقتان من القرآن الأزرق)

Publication Date The second half of the 4th century AH / 10th century AD

Publication Place Very probably from Kairouan, a great centre for book production at that time. - Museum of Islamic Arts, Raqqada, Kairouan

Subject Indigo blue colored paper, decorated.

Type Other

Language Undetermined

Digital Yes

Manuscript Yes

Physical Dimensions مستطيلة؛ العرض: 31 سم؛ الطول 41 سم؛ خمسة عشر سطراً

Library Museum With No Frontiers

Library Asset ID Rutbi 196

Record ID object;ISL;tn;Mus01;2;ar

Library Location Museum of Islamic Arts, Raqqada, Kairouan

Date The second half of the 4th century AH / 10th century AD

Notes These two pages are taken from a unique copy of the Holy Qur’an, written in the Kufic script. They include verses from Surat 31 (Surat Luqman), from verse 1 to verse 3, and a verse from Surat Al-Sajdah (Surat No. 32), which is verse 34. Preliminary analyzes confirmed that the indigo blue color used for coloring was brought from Egypt or from India, a country with which trade had begun to grow. From the 4th century AH (10th century AD). The gold paint was adhered to the parchment using an egg-white substance. The compact writing of the vowels is devoid of any sign of diacritical marks, and the letters are not semicoloned. As for the title of the surah, it was written inside a gilded band, drawn using several floral decorative elements, connected to a gilded palm leaf protruding towards the margin, inspired by the toric decoration adorned with flowers. On the other hand, the division between the verses is highlighted with silver flowers that have blackened due to oxidation. Contrary to what is supported by some art historians, the source of the various leaves of the Qur’an, copied on blue-colored parchment and distributed in several museums and art collections around the world, do not go back to the Mashhad region in Iran or to Spain. Rather, all of them - the leaves - go back to the blue-colored copy of the Qur’an kept in the library of the Grand Mosque of Kairouan. This is proven by the similarity between its dimensions, the number of lines, its writing, and its gilding.

Sample Text Mourad Rammah “Two Leaves from the Blue Qur’an” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tn;Mus01;2;ar

Bu sayfanın künyesi Prepared by:Mourad RAMMAHNé en 1953 à Kairouan, docteur en archéologie islamique, Mourad Rammah est le conservateur de la médina de Kairouan. Lauréat du prix Agha Khan d'architecture, il publie divers articles sur l'histoire de l'archéologie médiévale islamique en Tunisie et participe à différentes expositions sur l'architecture islamique. De 1982 à 1994, il est en charge du département de muséographie du Centre des arts et des civilisations islamiques. Mourad Rammah est également directeur du Centre des manuscrits de Kairouan.

Seçili bibliyografya De Kairouan a Carthage(exhibition catalogue), Tunis, 1995, p.41.Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia, pp.159–62, 182–3.