Folio from a single-volume Qur'an
| Support Type: | Paper |
| Paint Type: | Watercolor |
| Current Location: | Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London, United Kingdom |
| Location History: | The manuscript was produced for the Mughal court in India during the reign of Shah Jahan. It later entered private collections and is now preserved in the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art in London, where it is maintained for research, conservation, and exhibition. |
The word Saray means a settlement. Saray-i Amanat Khan was named after the famous Persian calligrapher Amanat Khan Shirazi, who created the inscriptions on the Taj Mahal. Instead of continuous Qur'anic illuminated opening spread, or frontispiece, of a seventeenth-century Qur'anic manuscript was intended to introduce the sacred text with remarkable artistic delicacy. The symmetrical arrangement of the two facing pages is dominated by a deep cobalt-blue background that is enhanced by delicate vegetable patterns, geometric borders, and elaborate gold floral arabesques. The divinity of the Qur'an is expressed through the lavish use of gold, while the principles of Islamic harmony, order and infinity of creation are shown in the repeating patterns and harmonious symmetry. Each page contains a rectangle panel with beautiful Arabic calligraphy in the center, surrounded by ornate borders and oval cartouches with additional inscriptions. This opening spread, produced in the Mughal period under Shah Jahan, demonstrates the remarkable artistry of the imperial manuscript workshops where calligraphers and illuminators collaborated to turn the Qur'an into a work of Islamic art as well as a holy religious text.