Indonesia
probably Ternate, North Maluku

Qur’an February 1731
European paper, pigments

National Library of Indonesia, Jakarta

Literally meaning ‘the recitation’, the Qur’an is the sacred word of God revealed by the Angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years to the Prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina.

This is among the oldest surviving Qur’an from Southeast Asia where, because of the humid tropical climate, most extant manuscripts date from the 19th century or later. The inscriptions in the margins of this Qur’an are in a different hand from the main central writing and may have been added by a reader and reciter of the text.