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Cover detail of mid-19th century bound Koran

Sacred Texts

Qur’an


‘Read in the name of thy Lord. . .’ The first words of the Qur’an symbolise the central role that the book plays in Islam.

The Qur’an is regarded by Muslims as the sacred word of God (Allah), revealed to the Prophet Mohammad via the intermediary the Archangel Gabriel over a period of 23 years in the seventh century AD.

Calligraphy developed in Islam as a means of venerating the Word of God and, as a result, printed versions of the Qur’an were not common before the 18th century.

This 19th century manuscript copy is in the maghribi script, which was the script most commonly used in West Africa. It was housed within a leather satchel, protecting it from unclean surfaces and enabling it to be kept close during the owner’s travels.