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Qur’an chair
(كرسي مصحف)

Title	Qur’an chair
Title Original	كرسي مصحف
Author	Abdul Wahid bin Sulaiman (the interlaced friezes of the Qur’an chair).
Author Original	عبد الواحد بن سليمان الأفاريز المتداخلة لكرسي المصحف
Publication Date:	Middle thirteenth century
Publication Place	- Museum of Islamic Art
Subject	Walnut wood.
Type	Other
Language	Undetermined
Digital	Yes
Manuscript	No
Physical Dimensions	الارتفاع: 107 سم؛ العرض: 50 سم
Library:	Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID	I. 584
Record ID	object;ISL;de;Mus01;22;ar
Library Location	Museum of Islamic Art
Date	Middle thirteenth century
Notes	This chair was made of a wooden board and decorated with carvings representing a connection between writing and an abstract floral decoration with the utmost perfection and splendor. On the upper half of the place where the Qur’an was placed, and in a square field, there is Arabic writing in huge braided Kufic script, which reads: “The kingdom belongs to God.” It is located on a spiral branch with small parts that form a three-dimensional base that does not intersect with the writing. As for the circumference of the back side, Ayat al-Kursi was written, which is verse 255 of Surat al-Baqarah. The third is written: “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. God, there is no god but He, the Ever-Living, the Ever-Subsisting. Neither year nor sleep can overtake Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. Who is there to intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they do not encompass any of His knowledge except what He wills. His Throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and His preservation of them does not hinder Him, and He is the Most High, the Great.” As for the few spaces between the letters, they are filled with a few branches. The base of the Qur’an’s chair is covered by branches engraved in a three-dimensional shape, consisting of serrated or branched, smooth or hairy leaves. These leaves intersect with multiple passages, and these leaves intersect in different shapes and in multiple layers with flowing branches of arabesque crowned with a three-branched leaf. These folding chairs, made of wood, were used throughout the Islamic world as a place to place large Qur’ans during the recitation of the Qur’an. References mention that the shape of the Qur’an chair has evolved from the shape of folding chairs that were used in past times in Egypt. These chairs were valuable items in mosques, as they were decorated in various shapes and techniques. Perhaps the one who carved and engraved this chair was the same artist who carved and engraved the wooden box for the poet and founder of Sufism, Mevlana Jalal al-Din al-Rumi (1207-1273), which is located in Mevlana’s hospice in Konya.
Sample Text	Annette Hagedorn “Quran Chair” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;de;Mus01;22;ar

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Museum With No Frontiers

Qur’an chair

(كرسي مصحف)

Author Abdul Wahid bin Sulaiman (the interlaced friezes of the Qur’an chair).

Author Original عبد الواحد بن سليمان الأفاريز المتداخلة لكرسي المصحف

Publication Date Middle thirteenth century

Publication Place - Museum of Islamic Art

Subject Walnut wood.

Type Other

Language Undetermined

Digital Yes

Manuscript No

Physical Dimensions الارتفاع: 107 سم؛ العرض: 50 سم

Library Museum With No Frontiers

Library Asset ID I. 584

Record ID object;ISL;de;Mus01;22;ar

Library Location Museum of Islamic Art

Date Middle thirteenth century

Notes This chair was made of a wooden board and decorated with carvings representing a connection between writing and an abstract floral decoration with the utmost perfection and splendor. On the upper half of the place where the Qur’an was placed, and in a square field, there is Arabic writing in huge braided Kufic script, which reads: “The kingdom belongs to God.” It is located on a spiral branch with small parts that form a three-dimensional base that does not intersect with the writing. As for the circumference of the back side, Ayat al-Kursi was written, which is verse 255 of Surat al-Baqarah. The third is written: “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. God, there is no god but He, the Ever-Living, the Ever-Subsisting. Neither year nor sleep can overtake Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. Who is there to intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they do not encompass any of His knowledge except what He wills. His Throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and His preservation of them does not hinder Him, and He is the Most High, the Great.” As for the few spaces between the letters, they are filled with a few branches. The base of the Qur’an’s chair is covered by branches engraved in a three-dimensional shape, consisting of serrated or branched, smooth or hairy leaves. These leaves intersect with multiple passages, and these leaves intersect in different shapes and in multiple layers with flowing branches of arabesque crowned with a three-branched leaf. These folding chairs, made of wood, were used throughout the Islamic world as a place to place large Qur’ans during the recitation of the Qur’an. References mention that the shape of the Qur’an chair has evolved from the shape of folding chairs that were used in past times in Egypt. These chairs were valuable items in mosques, as they were decorated in various shapes and techniques. Perhaps the one who carved and engraved this chair was the same artist who carved and engraved the wooden box for the poet and founder of Sufism, Mevlana Jalal al-Din al-Rumi (1207-1273), which is located in Mevlana’s hospice in Konya.

Sample Text Annette Hagedorn “Quran Chair” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;de;Mus01;22;ar