Marinid Qur’ans العربية
On the edge of the criteria

The Qur’an made for the library of Sultan Abu Saʿid ʿUthman

Le Coran de la bibliothèque du sultan Abu Saʿid ʿUthman · مصحف خزانة السلطان أبي سعيد عثمان

Between 710 and 731 AH · 1310–1331 CE

In the reign of Abu Saʿid

The card on the Marinid Qur’ans page
From volume 16
From volume 16 · K 2949, after Khabta, fig. 45 · AI-enhanced
SurvivesIncompleteNot digitised
Owner
Written for the library of Sultan Abu Saʿid ʿUthman, according to the colophons of volumes 1 and 16
Today
Cairo, al-Azhar Library (volume 1, 64 folios); Rabat, National Library K 2949 (four folios of volume 16 with its colophon)
Format
Parchment; originally in 30 volumes

It was probably written and illuminated in Fez. It later left the royal library and was endowed to an unknown mosque, and the margins of its leaves were pricked with a needle to spell the word «حبس», “endowed”: a Marinid way of recording an endowment that is harder to erase than a note in ink.

Its two colophons name the owner of the library but are undated, so its date is known only within the span of his reign.

Close-ups of the script (2)Click to enlarge →
Colophon of volume 16
Colophon of volume 16 · National Library, Rabat, K 2949, after Bongianino 2024, fig. 8 · AI-enhanced
From volume 16
From volume 16 · K 2949, after Khabta, fig. 45 · AI-enhanced
Marinid Qur’ans

Other Qur’ans of this era

← The Qur’an of 703 AH (Paris)Ibn Ridwan al-Shatibi’s Qur’an →
The Qur’an of Abu Yaʿqub YusufLast ten days of Rajab 705 AHAl-Juhani’s Qur’anEnd of Rabiʿ I 718 AHAbu al-Hasan’s rabʿa in al-Aqsa745 AHThe gold leaf (New York)UndatedThe Qur’an of 686 AH (Rabat)686 AHThe Qur’an of 703 AH (Paris)End of Jumada II 703 AHIbn Ridwan al-Shatibi’s Qur’an1 Shawwal 727 AHA volume endowed by Abu ʿInanBetween 749 and 759 AHThe rabʿa of Abu Yaʿqub Yusuf for the Sacred Mosque703 AH · lostAbu al-Hasan’s Qur’an for the ribāṭ of Chellac. 739–740 AH · lostAbu al-Hasan’s Qur’an for the Prophet’s Mosquec. 740 AH · lostAbu al-Hasan’s Qur’an for the Sacred MosqueShortly after 740 AH · lostThe Hebron rabʿac. 750 AH · lost