Surah 68:5

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.

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)
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.

Saray Medina 1a (Karatay 3)
This almost complete codex is notable for being written by at least six different scribes in Kufic script. Originally documented in Gotthelf Bergsträßer's archives as 'Medina 1a', its folios were later repaired with paper edges, and a few missing pages were completed in Naskh script.

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Wetzstein II 1925 (Ahlwardt 364)
The manuscript has suffered from historical water and oil damage, causing its parchment leaves to become quite wrinkled. It features elegant gold script used exclusively for the surah titles and verse counts.

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 68:5 from 8th Century AD found in Egypt, currently housed at Egyptian National Library and Archives, Cairo](https://mss.readyapologia.com/quran/codex_01335/435_manuscript-1335-page-43087-image-28796.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.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 336
An endowment (waqf) note on folio 7r, added by a later hand, states that the volume was donated to the mosque of Fustat by 'Amran b. al-Talab on November 10, 940 AD (6 Safar 329 AH). The manuscript also features unique decorations for verse groupings, including outlined alifs for groups of five and specific medallions for tens, fifties, and hundreds.

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.

Codex Petermann I 38
This manuscript, comprising 213 parchment folios, contains the entire second half of the Quran starting from Surah Maryam (19). It was documented by Wilhelm Ahlwardt in his 1887 catalogue of Arabic manuscripts at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and is notable for its robust Early Kufic script (D.Vb) with characteristic letterforms, such as the initial and medial 'kāf' often resembling 'dāl'.

Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Cod. Arab. 36
This manuscript was part of the first palaeographical study of Arabic script in the West, written by Jakob Georg Christian Adler in 1780. Acquired by Friedrich Buchwald in the 17th century, the fragment features a carpet-like tooled design binding with gilded frames and Danish state emblems on the spine.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 340 (f)
The black dots that originally separated the verses in this manuscript were later replaced with golden dots. Furthermore, golden 'hāʾ' letters were added to indicate groups of five verses, and golden medallions with letter-numerals were used to mark groups of ten, while a later hand added surah titles and verse counts in golden ink.

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 349 (b)
This manuscript is notable for its intricate verse markers, featuring irregular golden 'hāʾ' letters for five-verse groupings and specific squares with golden alphanumeric characters for ten-verse groupings. The final surviving folio features an archaic, three-sided golden illuminated band decorated with red and green dots, indicating the approaching end of the codex.

Arabe 334 (j) (Scan 1)
Originally discovered in Fustat (Old Cairo), this fragment is notable for its intricate verse division markers. It employs a golden 'hāʾ' to mark groups of five verses and varied medallion designs containing fully written words for every ten verses.

Arabe 334 (j) (Scan 2)
Originally discovered in Fustat (Old Cairo), this fragment is notable for its intricate verse division markers. It employs a golden 'hāʾ' to mark groups of five verses and varied medallion designs containing fully written words for every ten verses.

London, The Khalili Collections, KFQ 43
This manuscript features elaborate gold Kufic markers for every fifth verse, and gold style D script for groups of ten verses. The title and verse count for Sūrat al-maʿārij are inscribed in gold script outlined with ink.

Cambridge University Library, MS Add.1150
This fragment of an Abbasid Qur'an was acquired by the University of Cambridge in 1878 from Edward H. Palmer, who collected it alongside other early manuscripts during a research trip to the Sinai Peninsula.

MS Brunensis-Birminghamiensis (BrB)
This codex is reconstructed from 74 scattered leaves across multiple collections, including the Mingana Collection in Birmingham and the Minassian Collection at Brown University. Described by Alba Fedeli, it provides insight into the dispersal of early Qur'anic manuscripts in modern antiquarian markets.

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.

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.

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Landberg 822 (Ahlwardt 914)
This manuscript is a rare case where a Quranic codex is precisely dated by a colophon (completed on May 5, 1204 AD) and the scribe, al-Faḍl b. ʿUmar ar-Rāʾiḍ, is a known Iraqi scholar mentioned in Muslim scholarly literature. It also contains an exegetical compilation detailing circumstances of revelation, abrogated verses, and variant readings.