Surah 4:164

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 328 (c)
This manuscript is believed to originate from the same codex as the famous Birmingham Quran manuscript (Mingana 1572a), which was radiocarbon dated to between 568 and 645 AD. This makes it part of one of the oldest surviving Quranic manuscripts in the world and an early descendant of the Uthmanic codex.

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.

London, The British Library, Or. 2165 (Scan 1)
Considered by Gotthelf Bergsträßer to be the most important representative of the ḥiǧāzī script style due to its extensive size. It features a bold hand with tall, right-leaning hastae that sets it apart from more conventional early Kufic Qurans. Two folios from this same codex are currently preserved at the Dār al-Āṯār al-Islāmiyya in Kuwait.

London, The British Library, Or. 2165 (Scan 2)
Considered by Gotthelf Bergsträßer to be the most important representative of the ḥiǧāzī script style due to its extensive size. It features a bold hand with tall, right-leaning hastae that sets it apart from more conventional early Kufic Qurans. Two folios from this same codex are currently preserved at the Dār al-Āṯār al-Islāmiyya in Kuwait.

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.

Meknes, Private library of Sherif ʿAbdarraḥmān b. Zīdān, no call number
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.

Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 339
This manuscript features almost complete diacritical marks using oblique strokes, red dots for vocalization, and green dots for hamza. Each surah is introduced by an ornamental band containing its title and verse count in gold lettering, and verse groups are marked with gold hāʾ symbols and letter-numeral medallions.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 340 (a) (Scan 1)
This 12-folio parchment fragment features partial vocalization using red dots and oblique strokes for diacritics. It includes verse dividers marked by three oblique strokes and groups of ten verses indicated by circles.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 340 (a) (Scan 2)
This 12-folio parchment fragment features partial vocalization using red dots and oblique strokes for diacritics. It includes verse dividers marked by three oblique strokes and groups of ten verses indicated by circles.

Istanbul, Topkapı Palace Museum, Saray 50385 (Scan 1)
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.

Istanbul, Topkapı Palace Museum, Saray 50385 (Scan 2)
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.

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. mixt. 917
The manuscript was previously owned by Kaikobad I, Sultan of the Sultanate of Rum (1219-1237). According to scholars, other folios of the same codex are held in the Library of Topkapı Sarayı in Istanbul.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 334 (f) (Scan 1)
This manuscript is written in the Early Abbasid Kufic D.IV script. A fascinating feature is its evolution in ornamentation: the verses were originally separated by simple oblique strokes, which were later overlaid or replaced with groups of three golden dots, demonstrating how early Qurans were updated with more elaborate illumination over time.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 334 (f) (Scan 2)
This manuscript is written in the Early Abbasid Kufic D.IV script. A fascinating feature is its evolution in ornamentation: the verses were originally separated by simple oblique strokes, which were later overlaid or replaced with groups of three golden dots, demonstrating how early Qurans were updated with more elaborate illumination over time.

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.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 330 (g)
This fragment originally belonged to the same codex as Marcel 16 (National Library of Russia) and Is. 1615 II (Chester Beatty Library). Notably, folio 65 verso was left blank without interrupting the text, likely because the poor quality of the parchment caused ink from the recto side to bleed through.

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.

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.

Cairo, Khedivial Library, today: Egyptian National Library and Archives, Moritz 1905, table 37-38 (Scan 1)
Documented in Bernhard Moritz's seminal 1905 work 'Arabic Palaeography', this manuscript is known only through two surviving images, with its physical dimensions and total leaf count remaining a mystery. It serves as an important surviving example of early Kufic script from the Abbasid era.
