Al Fatihah – nazkh script

Dimensions of Written Surface: 15.4 (w) x 15.5 (h) cm Script: naskh This Qur'anic fragment contains the first chapter of the Qur'an entitled al-Fatihah (The Opening). Recited at the very beginning of the Qur'an, this surah proclaims God as Gracious and Merciful, the Master of the Day of Judgment, and the Leader of the straight path. The illuminated upper and lower panels contain a text, outlined in gold ink to let the plain folio show through, stating that this surah is the opening of the Holy Book (Fatihat al-Kitab al-'Aziz) and contains seven ayahs revealed in Mecca. These illuminated cartouches contain gold vine and flower motifs interlacing on a blue background. In the right margin appear two gold and blue decorative roundels and one semi-roundel in the center. The text itself is written in the cursive script called naskh, and each verse is separated by an ayah marker consisting of a gold six-petalled rosette with blue and red dots on its perimeter. Both the script and the illumination are typical of Qur'ans produced in Mamluk Egypt during the 14th and 15th centuries. Above the first two ayah markers on the first line of text immediately after the initiatory bismillah appears