Damascus: Qurʾan Scribes

Date: 1166-67

A multi-volume Qurʾan was commissioned by Nur al-Din and completed in 562/1166-67. The colophon to volume 53 names the scribe as ʿAli b. Jaʿfar b. Asad, and indicates that the Qurʾan was included in the waqf (charitable bequest) of the madrasa (religious school) founded by Nur al-Din in the Syrian capital. Three volumes (numbers 9, 13 and 53) survive. ʿAli b. Jaʿfar b. Asad appears also to have written the waqf document and a volume of tafsīr (commentary on the Qurʾan). See also: Engraver of seal rings; Engraver of inscribed plaques; Maker of inlaid metalwork.

Citation: Delpont, Éric (ed.), L’Orient de Saladin: l’art des Ayyoubides (Paris: Institut du Monde Arabe/Gallimard, 2001), pp. 206-207, catalogue numbers 217-219.