MS. Or. 2165 – A Qur'ānic Manuscript From The 1st Century Hijra In The British Library

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First Composed: 27th August 2005

Last Updated: 16th July 2008

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Assalamu ʿalaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:

(a)		(b)

(a) Folios 32a and (b) 33a of Ms. 2165 at the British Library, London.

Date

Second half of the 1st century of hijra.

The dating of MS. Or. 2165 has an interesting history.^[1] William Wright was perhaps the first scholar to publish this manuscript and he dated it to the 8th century CE.^[2] This date was accepted by Josef von Karabacek who dated the manuscript to the early 8th century CE, i.e., the end of the 1st century of hijra or the beginning of the 2nd century.^[3] On the other hand, based on a careful evaluation of the palaeographic considerations, Adolf Grohmann dated this manuscript to the 1st century of hijra.^[4]

For reasons which remain unelaborated, Martin Lings and Yasin Safadi dated MS. Or. 2165 to the late 2nd century of hijra (i.e., 8th century CE).^[5] However, a study by Dutton has shown that this manuscript is remarkably similar to the 1st century Qur'anic manuscript MS. Arabe 328a in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, and that it was written in the qira'at of Ibn ʿAmir.^[6] This manuscript was recently studied by Intisar A. Rabb, who suggested that it has the non-canonical Ḥimṣī reading.^[7] Based on the similarity between MS. Arabe 328a and MS. Or. 2165, Dutton suggests re-dating this manuscript to the time just before the Umayyad Caliph Walid (r. 86-96 AH), i.e., within the period 30-85 AH with the latter end of this time scale being safer. The last part of first century hijra dating for this manuscript was also suggested by Rabb.^[8] Thus, these studies confirm the earlier datings of Karabacek and Grohmann.

Manuscript Number

MS. Or. 2165.

Size & Folios

31.5 cm x 21.5 cm.

A volume of the facsimile edition published by Déroche and Noseda only includes the first 61 folios of the total of 121.^[9] Very briefly, folios 1-14: Qur'an 7:42-9:95; folios 15-113: Qur'an 10:9-39:47; folios 114-21: Qur'an 40:61-43:71. These 121 folios contains about 53% of the total text of the Qur'an.

History Of The Manuscript

A note appears on a fly leaf at the end of the manuscript "Bt of the Rev. Greville J. Chester, 29 Apr. 1879". Reverend Greville J. Chester was one of the most active helpers in purchasing objects abroad for the British Museum and several other institutions. Almost every winter he would travel abroad, and Egypt was a favourite destination. Most likely this manuscript was purchased by Rev. Chester in Egypt. However, the actual provenance of the manuscript could be Syria as gathered from the readings discussed above.

Script & Ornamentation

Ḥijāzī.

Manuscript on vellum. The muṣḥaf is not vocalised. The consonants are frequently differentiated by dashes. Six oval dots ranked in three pairs punctuate the verses. Every tenth verse is marked by a red hollow circle surrounded by dots.

Contents

The contents of the manuscript, as tabulated below, are gathered from this facsimile edition.

Location

British Library, London (United Kingdom).

References & Notes

[1] The dating of MS. Or. 2165 has also taken some interesting twists on the internet as well – on a website no less prestigious than that of the British Library. In early 2005, the Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures Of The British Library: Sacred Texts stated MS. Or. 2165 was a "Qur'an in Ma'il script, probably Mecca or Medina, late 7th century." However, later in the same year the date was unexpectedly transformed to the 8th century.

[2] W. Wright, Facsimiles Of Manuscripts And Inscriptions (Oriental Series), 1875-1883, The Palæographical Society, William Clowes and Sons, Ltd.: London, Plate LIX.

[3] J. von Karabacek, "Julius Euting's Sinaïtische Inschriften", Vienna Oriental Journal (Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Des Morgenlandes), 1891, Volume 5, p. 324; idem., "Arabic Palaeography", Vienna Oriental Journal (Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Des Morgenlandes), 1906, Volume 20, p. 137.

[4] A. Grohmann, "Zum Problem Der Datierung Der Ältesten Koran-Handschriften" in H. Franke (Ed.), Akten Des Vierundzwanzigsten Internationalen Orientalisten-Kongresses München, 28. August Bis 4. September 1957, 1959, Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft e.V.: Weisbaden, p. 272.

[5] M. Lings & Y. H. Safadi, The Qur'an: Catalogue Of An Exhibition Of Qur'anic Manuscripts At The British Library 3 April - 15 August 1976, 1976, Published for the British Library by the World of Islam Publishing Company, p. 20. Official British Library publications also record an 8th century date. For instance, see C. F. Baker (Ed.), Subject Guide To The Arabic Manuscripts In The British Library, 2001, The British Library: London, p. 1.

[6] Y. Dutton, "Some Notes On The British Library's 'Oldest Qur'an Manuscript' (Or. 2165)", Journal Of Qur'anic Studies, 2004, Volume 6, No. 1, pp. 43-71.

[7] I. A. Rabb, "A Non-Canonical Reading Of The Qur'ān: Recognition & Authenticity (The Ḥimṣī Reading)" Journal Of Qur'anic Studies, 2006, Volume 8, No. 2, pp. 84-126.

[8] ibid., p. 108.

[9] F. Déroche and S. N. Noseda (Eds.), Sources de la transmission manuscrite du texte coranique. I. Les manuscrits de style hijazi. Volume 2. Tome I. Le manuscrit Or. 2165 (f. 1 à 61) de la British Library, 2001, Fondazione Ferni Noja Noseda, Leda, and British Library: London.

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