Surah 2:38

Doha, Qatar National Library HC.MS.03152
The production history of this manuscript is unclear, and its script style is not attested in authentic ancient Qur'ānic manuscripts. Scholars suspect it could be a modern copy, and its dating requires physical analysis of the parchment and ink.

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Ms. or. fol. 4313 (Scan 1)
This codex is one of the earliest surviving Quranic manuscripts, with combined radiocarbon dating of its parchment placing its production between 605 and 651 AD. The seven folios in Berlin were once part of a larger codex that is now split, with 33 additional folios currently held in the Egyptian National Library. The Berlin leaves were acquired in 1939 from the estate of Bernhard Moritz, the former director of the Khedivial Library.

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Ms. or. fol. 4313 (Scan 2)
This codex is one of the earliest surviving Quranic manuscripts, with combined radiocarbon dating of its parchment placing its production between 605 and 651 AD. The seven folios in Berlin were once part of a larger codex that is now split, with 33 additional folios currently held in the Egyptian National Library. The Berlin leaves were acquired in 1939 from the estate of Bernhard Moritz, the former director of the Khedivial Library.

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Ms. or. fol. 4313 (Scan 3)
This codex is one of the earliest surviving Quranic manuscripts, with combined radiocarbon dating of its parchment placing its production between 605 and 651 AD. The seven folios in Berlin were once part of a larger codex that is now split, with 33 additional folios currently held in the Egyptian National Library. The Berlin leaves were acquired in 1939 from the estate of Bernhard Moritz, the former director of the Khedivial Library.

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Ms. or. fol. 4313 (Scan 4)
This codex is one of the earliest surviving Quranic manuscripts, with combined radiocarbon dating of its parchment placing its production between 605 and 651 AD. The seven folios in Berlin were once part of a larger codex that is now split, with 33 additional folios currently held in the Egyptian National Library. The Berlin leaves were acquired in 1939 from the estate of Bernhard Moritz, the former director of the Khedivial Library.

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Ms. or. fol. 4313 (Scan 5)
This codex is one of the earliest surviving Quranic manuscripts, with combined radiocarbon dating of its parchment placing its production between 605 and 651 AD. The seven folios in Berlin were once part of a larger codex that is now split, with 33 additional folios currently held in the Egyptian National Library. The Berlin leaves were acquired in 1939 from the estate of Bernhard Moritz, the former director of the Khedivial Library.

Muṣḥaf of Najaf Ashraf (Codex 1 of Imām ʿAlī Library)
This codex contains a colophon attributing it to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and dating it to 40 AH (660 AD), though scholars believe this colophon was added later. It also features a waqf (endowment) deed written on the first page in 1775 AD.

P. Hamb. Arab. 68 (Scan 1)
This document is uniquely significant as it represents the only known codex of the Quran written on papyrus. It was discovered by Naïm Vanthieghem in 2011 and edited by Mathieu Tillier and Naïm Vanthieghem in 2024.

P. Hamb. Arab. 68 (Scan 2)
This document is uniquely significant as it represents the only known codex of the Quran written on papyrus. It was discovered by Naïm Vanthieghem in 2011 and edited by Mathieu Tillier and Naïm Vanthieghem in 2024.

P. Hamb. Arab. 68 (Scan 3)
This document is uniquely significant as it represents the only known codex of the Quran written on papyrus. It was discovered by Naïm Vanthieghem in 2011 and edited by Mathieu Tillier and Naïm Vanthieghem in 2024.

Meknes, Private library of Sherif ʿAbdarraḥmān b. Zīdān, no call number (Scan 1)
This nearly complete early Kufic Quran was photographed by Otto Pretzl during a research trip to Morocco in 1934. While the main body belonged to the private library of Sherif ʿAbdarraḥmān b. Zīdān, fragments of this codex have since been dispersed to the Royal Library in Rabat, the Tareq Rajab Museum in Kuwait, and sold through auction houses like Christie's.

Meknes, Private library of Sherif ʿAbdarraḥmān b. Zīdān, no call number (Scan 2)
This nearly complete early Kufic Quran was photographed by Otto Pretzl during a research trip to Morocco in 1934. While the main body belonged to the private library of Sherif ʿAbdarraḥmān b. Zīdān, fragments of this codex have since been dispersed to the Royal Library in Rabat, the Tareq Rajab Museum in Kuwait, and sold through auction houses like Christie's.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 324 (c) (Scan 1)
Carbon dating of fragments from Arabe 324 (c) places its origin between 660-780 AD. The manuscript is part of a composite codex, where Arabe 324 (c) and Gotha Ms. orient. A 462 are original leaves, while other sections such as Arabe 324 (a) and (d) were added centuries later to replace damaged or missing pages.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 324 (c) (Scan 2)
Carbon dating of fragments from Arabe 324 (c) places its origin between 660-780 AD. The manuscript is part of a composite codex, where Arabe 324 (c) and Gotha Ms. orient. A 462 are original leaves, while other sections such as Arabe 324 (a) and (d) were added centuries later to replace damaged or missing pages.

Istanbul, Topkapı Palace Museum, Saray 50385
This codex is known primarily through photographs in the Gotthelf Bergsträßer archive, taken in the early 1930s. Although the original manuscript is no longer identifiable in the current museum catalogue, these rare photographs survived World War II and provide a crucial record of this early text.

Samarkand Kufic Quran (Scan 1)
This monumental manuscript is one of the oldest surviving Qurans, traditionally believed to be the personal copy of Caliph Uthman stained with his blood. After being taken by Russian imperial forces in 1868 to Saint Petersburg, it was repatriated to Tashkent in 1923.

Samarkand Kufic Quran (Scan 2)
This monumental manuscript is one of the oldest surviving Qurans, traditionally believed to be the personal copy of Caliph Uthman stained with his blood. After being taken by Russian imperial forces in 1868 to Saint Petersburg, it was repatriated to Tashkent in 1923.

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Minutoli 296 (Ahlwardt 304)
The manuscript suffered significant water damage in the past and underwent a careful historical restoration. Its original margins were cut away and replaced with new paper borders, which were then elegantly decorated with broad gold lines and fine blue lines.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 5122
This nearly complete 8th-century Quranic manuscript is notable for its extensive preservation, containing text from the very beginning of the Quran to its final Surah. Curiously, folio 134 has been reported missing from the French National Library since approximately 2000, and no microfilm image of it survives.

Rampur Raza Library No. 1
This manuscript is a highly prized copy traditionally ascribed to the penmanship of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Caliph. It features modern gold and colored borders on the paper margins.
![Cairo, Khedivial Library, "qāf 3" (Gotthelf Bergsträßer archives) [maṣāḥif 387], in kūfī type C script, showing Surah 2:38 from 8th Century AD found in Egypt, currently housed at Egyptian National Library and Archives, Cairo](https://mss.readyapologia.com/quran/codex_01335/11_manuscript-1335-page-42778-image-28478.jpg)
Cairo, Khedivial Library, "qāf 3" (Gotthelf Bergsträßer archives) [maṣāḥif 387]
This extensive 8th-century manuscript is well-known today through a collection of 471 photographs taken by Gotthelf Bergsträßer around 1930, preserving its contents in his archive.

Istanbul, Topkapı Palace Museum, "Saray 50386" (Karatay 42) (Scan 1)
This near-complete Kufic Quran is bound in brown leather over wood with arabesque interlacing and iron rings. It bears the foundation seal of Sultan Osman III, and its first three leaves as well as sura headings are illuminated.

Istanbul, Topkapı Palace Museum, "Saray 50386" (Karatay 42) (Scan 2)
This near-complete Kufic Quran is bound in brown leather over wood with arabesque interlacing and iron rings. It bears the foundation seal of Sultan Osman III, and its first three leaves as well as sura headings are illuminated.

Topkapı Palace Museum, Saray 50395 (Scan 1)
This nearly complete codex is an exceptional document, as complete codices in Kūfī D script style are extremely rare. The manuscript features illuminated pages for the first three and last six folios, as well as at surah beginnings.

Topkapı Palace Museum, Saray 50395 (Scan 2)
This nearly complete codex is an exceptional document, as complete codices in Kūfī D script style are extremely rare. The manuscript features illuminated pages for the first three and last six folios, as well as at surah beginnings.

Istanbul, Topkapı Palace Museum, Karatay 23 (Scan 1)
This manuscript was extensively photographed as part of the Gotthelf Bergsträßer Archive before World War II. The original first folio was lost and replaced with a paper leaf in thuluth script, while the original ancient parchment continues from the fourth word of Q 2:5.

Istanbul, Topkapı Palace Museum, Karatay 23 (Scan 2)
This manuscript was extensively photographed as part of the Gotthelf Bergsträßer Archive before World War II. The original first folio was lost and replaced with a paper leaf in thuluth script, while the original ancient parchment continues from the fourth word of Q 2:5.

Arabe 399
This manuscript features a forged colophon claiming it was copied in 798 AD by order of Caliph Harun al-Rashid. An old legend also suggested it was a diplomatic gift sent to Charlemagne, though scholars have proven both the attribution and the legend to be false.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 343
The manuscript uses decorative medallions and bands to mark every ten verses, rather than separating individual verses. A marginal note in cursive script reveals it was once owned by Aḥmad Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Huwaydī, with later readers adding pious notes in the margins.
