ISLAMIC MANUSCRIPT
ABOUT
Cambridge University Library's collection of Islamic manuscripts dates from the origins of Arabic scholarship in Cambridge in the 1630s when the University founded a Professorship in Arabic and William Bedwell donated a Qurʼān to the Library. Since that time the collection has grown in size and diversity to over 5,000 works, including the collections of Thomas Erpenius, J.L.Burckhardt, E.H.Palmer and E.G. Browne. These manuscripts shed light on many aspects of the Islamic world, its beliefs and learning.
The collection was further enriched over the centuries through the activities of scholarly collectors and skilled librarians, adding more depth to the already impressive range of manuscripts. Yet this extraordinary collection has remained relatively unknown outside Cambridge. Now we hope to draw better attention to its treasures through cataloguing and digitisation. We have collaborated with the Bodleian at Oxford and other research libraries to provide an online catalogue of the collection. We will be offering a selection of digitised manuscripts through the Foundations project and will seek funding for further digitisation.
In this selection, we present the full collection of our earliest Qurʼānic manuscripts copied during the first four Centuries of Islam. With a grant awarded by The Islamic Manuscript Association in 2012 we were able to enrich the content description of each fragment. The style of writing commonly known as “Kufic” has been classified into distinct palaeographic styles. The Suras are clearly indicated and searchable by name and numbering, which will guide the reader through the text. Amongst this collection is a portion of the earliest Qur`an for which an evident terminus ante quem exists. This Qurʼān was made an endowment (waqf) by Amajur the Governor of Damascus in 876 AD/ 262 AH.
From the wider collection of Islamic manuscripts we have included a complete and beautifully illustrated Qur'an and a number of very early fragments dating back to the first centuries of the Islamic calendar. From the rich literature encompassing the Islamic tradition we have chosen the only extant copy of Kitāb al-tawḥīd, the famous theological work by by al-Maturidi, alongside works on science and some richly illustrated examples of Persian Literature.
RELIGION
A common religious manuscript would be a copy of the Qur'an, which is the sacred book of Islam. The Qur'an is believed by Muslims to be a divine revelation (the word of god) to the prophet Muhammed, revealed to him by Archangel Gabriel. Qur'anic manuscripts can vary in form and function. Certain manuscripts were larger in size for ceremonial purposes, others being smaller and more transportable. An example of a Qur'an manuscript is the Blue Qur'an. The Blue Qur'an is ceremonial in nature, which a Hafiz would utilize. It has gold Kufic script, on parchment dyed blue with indigo. Many Qur'an manuscripts are divided into 30 equal sections (juz) to be able to be read over the course of 30 days. The Chinese practice of writing on paper, presented to the Islamic world around the 8th century, enabled Qur'ans to begin to be written on paper. The decrease in production costs of Qur'an manuscripts due to the transition from parchment to paper enabled Qur'ans to be utilized more frequently for personal use/worship, rather than just ceremonial settings.
SCIENTIFIC
Many early illustrated Arabic manuscripts are affiliated with scientific subjects. Scientific manuscripts discuss a variety of topics including but not limited to astronomy, astrology, anatomy, botany, and zoology. The development of early illustrated scientific manuscripts began under the Islamic Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad in approximately the mid-8th century. The development of new scientific work starting to translation of old Greek scientific and learned works, and the make pure original scholarship in science, medicine, and philosophy in Arabic. An example of an Arabic scientific manuscript is the Book of the Fixed Stars by Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi. This manuscript is a catalog of stars and their constellations, commissioned by the patron the Buyid prince Adud al-Dawla. The Book of the Fixed Stars based most of its content on Ptolemy's Mathēmatikē Syntaxis(Almagest), which was translated from Greek to Arabic during the 9th century. Al-Sufi's included his own observations of Ptolemy's material into this manuscript as well