15th century

Qur'an

Artist/maker unknown

The Qur’an is Islam’s most sacred text. It gives the words that God (Allah) transmitted in Arabic to the Prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel (Jibril) in the mid-600s. Muhammad delivered these revelations to his followers who later wrote them into a book. The teachings cover many subjects, from creation and final judgment to prayer and ritual to law and social behavior.

　

Made for a Muslim ruler in or near Delhi, this copy is one of the oldest surviving Qur’ans from India. The scribe used a distinctive script called Bihari with letters ending in long, swooping lines. The colorful illuminations that punctuate its pages blend ornament from across the Muslim world, including Indian touches such as lotus flowers.