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Illuminations and Decorations
Most illuminations in The Qur’an function are descriptive to highlight specific marks and divisions within the Quranic text. While illuminations may include illustrations, Islamic manuscripts treat those two differently. Muslim scholars regarded illustrations as blasphemous, so illuminations are used more frequently in The Qur’an for reverential use. The accompanying copy of The Qur’an includes the following illuminations: frontispieces, finispieces, verse separators, chapter headings, the border of the block text, decorations to signal divisions, and ritual prostration in the marginalia (fig, 21). Illuminations appeared from the early 9th century. Ibn al-Bawwab, who was a famous calligrapher and played a huge role in refining the round scripts in the 10th century, frequently used illuminations in The Qur’an he copied through using colored inks such as blue, gold, red, white, and green to decorate the frontispieces and finispieces . The question remains if the copyist, Al-Hajj Ahmad Ibn Al-Hajj Ahmad, was the same person who decorated and illuminated the manuscript. While it is difficult to pinpoint it, certain codicological and paleographical features may indicate that the calligrapher/copyist was also responsible for the illuminations.
Illuminations and Decorations
Most illuminations in The Qur’an function are descriptive to highlight specific marks and divisions within the Quranic text. While illuminations may include illustrations, Islamic manuscripts treat those two differently. Muslim scholars regarded illustrations as blasphemous, so illuminations are used more frequently in The Qur’an for reverential use. The accompanying copy of The Qur’an includes the following illuminations: frontispieces, finispieces, verse separators, chapter headings, the border of the block text, decorations to signal divisions, and ritual prostration in the marginalia (fig, 21). Illuminations appeared from the early 9th century. Ibn al-Bawwab, who was a famous calligrapher and played a huge role in refining the round scripts in the 10th century, frequently used illuminations in The Qur’an he copied through using colored inks such as blue, gold, red, white, and green to decorate the frontispieces and finispieces . The question remains if the copyist, Al-Hajj Ahmad Ibn Al-Hajj Ahmad, was the same person who decorated and illuminated the manuscript. While it is difficult to pinpoint it, certain codicological and paleographical features may indicate that the calligrapher/copyist was also responsible for the illuminations.