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Sura 22:5-12 of the Qur’an in Kufic calligraphy
Kufic-script Qur’ans from the early days of Islam were meant to be read by those who already knew the Qur’an orally. See Kufic Qur’an Exercise.
Translation: [If you doubt the final resurrection: did we not make you emerge from dust] through sperm and then through a partly formed embryo, as our clear lesson to you, maintaining those whom we choose in the wombs for a certain period of time, them bringing them forth as infants, that you might mature to full strength, some who are called to dies and others to reach the feebleness of old age, no longer knowing anything. Do you not see the year barren, then brought to life by the rains we send, [swelling and sprouting in pairs of every kind?]
Name: Sura 22:5-12 of the Qur’an in Kufic calligraphy
Material: Ink on parchment
Size:
Length: 29.7 cm (11.7 in)
Width: 22.5 cm (8.85 in)
Date: 9th or 10th century CE
Place of Origin: Egypt
Location: Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D.C.
Source and Registration#:
Wikimedia
(accessed February 5, 2010).
Michael Sells
John Henry Barrows Professor of Islamic History and Literature, Divinity School, The University of Chicago
