Qur’an

More than a holy book, the Qur’an represents for Muslims the very words of God that were dictated to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel. In the Umayyad period, the Qur’an was written, as here, on pages wider than long. The first four lines on the top give the last verses of Sura 21. (The last verses of the Sura, Qur’an, Abbasid Period, North Africa, 9th century, ink, color and gold on parchment / Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA / Bridgeman Images.)