Koran Leaf

This Persian Qur'an is typical of the manuscripts produced starting in the sixteenth century. The pages of these books were lavishly decorated with borders and headings. Some pages were entirely illustrated with flowers, leaves and geometric patterns. At the top of this particular page is an ornamented headpiece, with gold and blue medallions filled with flowers. In the seventeenth century, when this manuscript was created, the colors blue and gold signified royalty and luxury and were the most expensive pigments to produce.

The heading in red ink at the top of the page indicates the chapter of the Qur'an, the city where the chapter was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad and the number of verses in the chapter. The first line consists of the bismillah, which means "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate." The bismillah begins all but one of the 114 chapters in the Qur'an.