Surah 4:20

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.

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.

London, The British Library, Or. 2165 (Scan 3)
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 4)
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) (Scan 1)
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.

Muṣḥaf of Najaf Ashraf (Codex 1 of Imām ʿAlī Library) (Scan 2)
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 (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)
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.

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.

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 (h) (Scan 1)
This manuscript features a distinctive B II Kufic script with triangular ends on horizontal letters and an elongated return on the letter alif. It is adorned with golden hāʾ markers for groups of five verses and intricate medallions for every ten verses.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 334 (h) (Scan 2)
This manuscript features a distinctive B II Kufic script with triangular ends on horizontal letters and an elongated return on the letter alif. It is adorned with golden hāʾ markers for groups of five verses and intricate medallions for every ten verses.

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)
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
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.

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.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 345 (b)
This early Abbasid manuscript is part of a large cache of early Qurans originally discovered in the Mosque of 'Amr ibn al-'As in Fustat (Old Cairo). Written on parchment, the text lacks diacritical dots but features early red dot vocalization marks and distinctive yellow circles that indicate groups of ten verses.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 347 (b) (Scan 1)
This manuscript is notable for its rich ornamentation, including golden dot groupings to separate verses and elaborate golden medallions with the names of the tens spelled out in golden characters on a red background.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 347 (b) (Scan 2)
This manuscript is notable for its rich ornamentation, including golden dot groupings to separate verses and elaborate golden medallions with the names of the tens spelled out in golden characters on a red background.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 352 (d) (Scan 1)
This parchment fragment, written in Early Abbasid Kufic script (Graphie D II) with sparse diacritics and partial red vocalization points, was discovered in Fustat. It forms part of the large Arabe 352 collection, which preserves early Quranic fragments linked to the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in Old Cairo.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 352 (d) (Scan 2)
This parchment fragment, written in Early Abbasid Kufic script (Graphie D II) with sparse diacritics and partial red vocalization points, was discovered in Fustat. It forms part of the large Arabe 352 collection, which preserves early Quranic fragments linked to the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in Old Cairo.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 379 (e) (Scan 1)
The manuscript uses yellow ink for the title and verse count of Surah 4. Verses are not separated individually, but a triangular figure marks groups of ten verses. The letter Qāf is denoted by a dot placed below the letter.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 379 (e) (Scan 2)
The manuscript uses yellow ink for the title and verse count of Surah 4. Verses are not separated individually, but a triangular figure marks groups of ten verses. The letter Qāf is denoted by a dot placed below the letter.

BnF Arabe 5123
The manuscript originates from the collection of J. Richard and its text is written without diacritical marks, using red dots for vocalization. It features a unique binding with 16th or 17th-century brown leather boards, possibly of Indian origin, decorated with a central plaque and stamped fleurons.

Cambridge University Library, MS Add.1115 (Scan 1)
This Abbasid-era manuscript was acquired by Edward H. Palmer in 1878 during a research expedition to the Sinai Peninsula.

Cambridge University Library, MS Add.1115 (Scan 2)
This Abbasid-era manuscript was acquired by Edward H. Palmer in 1878 during a research expedition to the Sinai Peninsula.

Diez A oct 172
This codex is largely complete, containing the entire Quran, though the first folio and a few other leaves were supplied by a later hand. Written on parchment, the manuscript represents an important transitional stage in the evolution of the Arabic script toward the Maghrebi style. While generally well-preserved, some of the early and late folios exhibit water damage and have been repaired.

BNF Arabe 6430
This 10th-century Quranic manuscript is notable for being written on Oriental paper rather than parchment. It features complete diacritics and vocalization, with distinctive colorful verse markers including yellow Kufic 'hāʾ' letters to signal groups of five verses.

Providence, Rhode Island, Brown University Library, 6724
Part of the Minassian Collection at Brown University, this leaf is written in New Style I script on paper, demonstrating the transition to paper as a writing material for Qurans in the Islamic world.

Dublin, Chester Beatty Library, Is 1431
This complete Quran was produced in Baghdad by the renowned calligrapher ʿAlī b. Hilāl, also known as Ibn al-Bawwāb, around 1000-1001 AD. He is a significant figure in Islamic art, closely associated with the adoption of the round Naskh script to transcribe the Quran.

Doha, Qatar National Library, HC.MS.00715
This codex is closely related to two other Andalusian manuscripts held in Istanbul, which were written in Cordoba (1143-1144 AD) and Valencia (1182-1183 AD), suggesting a similar provenance. It features distinctive Maġribī micrography for the main text and angular chrysography for the Surah headings.

Providence, Rhode Island, Brown University Library, 6339
This manuscript is a rare example of a single Quranic folio written on paper in the elegant tauqīʿ script. It originally belonged to the same codex as Brown University Library folio 6342.

Qatar National Library HC.MS.03150 (Scan 1)
This codex was originally part of a lavish, multi-volume manuscript. Its rich polychrome vocalization includes yellow or orange dots for hamza, green dots for alif al-wasl, and blue symbols for sukun and tashdid. The sūra titles employ angular chrysography reminiscent of Marinid and Nasrid architectural decoration from the 14th century.

Qatar National Library HC.MS.03150 (Scan 2)
This codex was originally part of a lavish, multi-volume manuscript. Its rich polychrome vocalization includes yellow or orange dots for hamza, green dots for alif al-wasl, and blue symbols for sukun and tashdid. The sūra titles employ angular chrysography reminiscent of Marinid and Nasrid architectural decoration from the 14th century.