A rare illuminated Qur'an juz' (XXV), copied by 'Asadullah Kirmani, Persia or Turkey, Timurid or Ottoman, circa 1475

This juz’ is part of the same thirty-volume Qur’an as manuscript offered at Christie’s, London, 10 October 2013, lot 121. The colophon to that manuscript included its date of production as 879 AH/1474-75 AD.

The scribe, ‘Asadullah Kirmani, was a highly regarded calligrapher and teacher of the renowned Ahmad Qarahisari (for his biography and a calligraphic album by the scribe, see Sotheby’s, London, 23 October 2024, lot 208). Few specimens of ‘Asadullah Kirmani’s calligraphy survive, but among them are two pages from an album of Sultan Bayezid (r.1481-1512) or his father Mehmet II (r.1444-46 and 1451-81), sold at Christie’s, London, 31 March 2009, lots 136 and 137. Those leaves recorded the full name of the scribe as 'Asadullah son of Bayezid al-Sadiq al-Sufi al-Kirmani, his nisba suggesting a Persian heritage. A Qur’an manuscript copied by ‘Asadullah is in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts (inv. no.448), and is thought to have been made for the treasury of Sultan Mehmet II.