As far as we know the first Egyptian muṣḥaf was type set in 1299/1881/2 in der
Government Press Būlāq
it did not have verse numbers but empty space to
be filled out by scribes.
Thursday, 10 October 2024
Tuesday, 8 October 2024
Turkey and Syria: Computer Set
Although Turkey has excellent maṣāḥif both based on old and
on new manuscripts,
it has the ugliest muṣḥaf that sold well.
In the 1990s Turks not used to Arabic writing liked this: Now they take a PC set one, like
the last one is published by Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı (Directorate of Religious Affairs).
In Syria in the middle of the civil war the minstry of auqāf published a new standard mushaf:
‒
it has the ugliest muṣḥaf that sold well.
In the 1990s Turks not used to Arabic writing liked this: Now they take a PC set one, like
the last one is published by Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı (Directorate of Religious Affairs).
In Syria in the middle of the civil war the minstry of auqāf published a new standard mushaf:
‒
Monday, 7 October 2024
Turkey and Syria: Calligraphers
Both in Turkey, like Mehmet Özçay
by Muhammad (Mehmet) Abay
Hüseyin Kutlu:
and Hamit Aytaҫ
and in Syria there are great calligraphers, here al-Bārī
ʿUṯmān Ṭaha
Abū ʿUmar ʿUbaidah Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ al-Banki / ابو عمرعبيدة محمد صالح البنكي Auf dem nächsen Bild außen Seiten aus dem Muṣḥaf al-Maktūm geschrieben von Ǧamāl al-Bustān aus Qunaitra, in der Mitte der für den Schiʿiten-Diwān von Hādī ad-Darāǧī -- außen fast in Schreibmaschinen-Stil, in der Mitte kalligraphischer als ʿUṯmān Ṭaha:
Abū ʿUmar ʿUbaidah Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ al-Banki / ابو عمرعبيدة محمد صالح البنكي Auf dem nächsen Bild außen Seiten aus dem Muṣḥaf al-Maktūm geschrieben von Ǧamāl al-Bustān aus Qunaitra, in der Mitte der für den Schiʿiten-Diwān von Hādī ad-Darāǧī -- außen fast in Schreibmaschinen-Stil, in der Mitte kalligraphischer als ʿUṯmān Ṭaha:
Sunday, 6 October 2024
Efim A. Rezvan
I intended to paraphrase the good points and correct the bad ones
in Efim A.Rezvan's "A History of Printed Editions of the Qur’an"
in The Oxford Handbook of QUR’ANIC STUDIES.
Unfortunately the first part is about manuscripts and other non-print matters.
The part about the St.Petersburg and Kazan Qurʾāns is fine ‒ but not new.
The section on prints after Kazan (pp 268-270) is all wrong, not worth a critique.
picture: https://mnaber.org/img/cache/thumbnail/pZEanzZW1ilzNgi4DQVqO0vo96q0wLpj1lIKFzY0
Unfortunately the first part is about manuscripts and other non-print matters.
The part about the St.Petersburg and Kazan Qurʾāns is fine ‒ but not new.
The section on prints after Kazan (pp 268-270) is all wrong, not worth a critique.
picture: https://mnaber.org/img/cache/thumbnail/pZEanzZW1ilzNgi4DQVqO0vo96q0wLpj1lIKFzY0
Best Sellers
The first best selling print was St.Petersburg-Kazan:
Next came "the
Flügel"
published 1834 in Leipzig by the publishing house Tauchnitz, which pirated it in
1837 with an edition officially by Gustav Redslob,
but basicly the Flügel without paying him:
both were bestsellers but only among orientalists.
By that time, both in Iran and India printing maṣāḥif had began, but only after 1865 they were mass produced, and affordable.
Since they were even sold in the Ottoman empire, the ban against printing the scripture was lifted: So maṣāḥif written by Hafiz Osman and Muṣṭafā Naẓīf Qadirġalī became best selling in Istanbul, Syria and Egypt.
here one of several MNQ from Tehran The important editions by Muḫallalātī and al-Ḥusainī al-Ḥaddād (HH) did not sell well ‒ the KFE at least not to Egyptians; they prefered the 522 pages written by Muṣṭafā Naẓīf Qadirġalī ‒ now often in the reform /Andalusian/ HH orthography, but at least until 1967 in new editions in the original Ottoman spelling.
on the left from a 1981 MNQ Cairo edition on 522 pages, on the right the original: a MZQ from Bairut The top seller in Egypt was a line by line copy of the MNQ 522pager written by Muḥammad Saʿd Ibrāhīm al-Ḥaddād famous under the name of the publisher: aš-Šamarlī.
What is mostly ignored: Šamarlī published MNQ in the new orthography even in the 1960s: The government press, al-Amīriyya, tried to compete: in 1976 they produced a type set version with 15 lines on 525 pages. For more than a decade they made at least four different sizes: from small in flexibel plastic to Mosque size.

on the left from the pocket version 1977, on the right the normal one the large Qaṭarī reprint 1988 Although the KFE was almost only sold to oritentalists, in the seventies many publisher "remade" it on there light tables (layout tables): the cut films they had made of the 12 liner and rearranged them: either just more lines on a page as was first done around 1933 in the "muṣḥaf al-malik" al-maṭbʿa al-miṣiriyya (Muḥammad Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Laṭīf) printed in offset I assume: die rechte Seite bekam immer einen Kustoden. Gelegentlich wurde eine Schmuckzeile ein gefügt, damit eine Sure auf einer neuen Seite anfangen kann. Der Verleger hat zu seinem neu umbrochenen und neu gerahmten auch einen Tafsīr veröffentlicht: Dār aš-Šurūq: or more and longer lines: some editions with tafsir keep the original pages other rearange the text None of these were best sellers, but combined they spread the new spelling in spite of the KFE being extremely unpopular.
Now in the Arab world and Malaysia ʿUṯmān Ṭaha versions dominate.
In India and Bangla Desh reprints of Tāj Comp. Ltd versions can be found everywhere, while in Pakistan there is fierce competion.
In South Africa Taj's 848 pages 13liner dominates, although the latest version of WII (Waterval Islamic Institute) is set in a UT like font.
By that time, both in Iran and India printing maṣāḥif had began, but only after 1865 they were mass produced, and affordable.
Since they were even sold in the Ottoman empire, the ban against printing the scripture was lifted: So maṣāḥif written by Hafiz Osman and Muṣṭafā Naẓīf Qadirġalī became best selling in Istanbul, Syria and Egypt.
here one of several MNQ from Tehran The important editions by Muḫallalātī and al-Ḥusainī al-Ḥaddād (HH) did not sell well ‒ the KFE at least not to Egyptians; they prefered the 522 pages written by Muṣṭafā Naẓīf Qadirġalī ‒ now often in the reform /Andalusian/ HH orthography, but at least until 1967 in new editions in the original Ottoman spelling.
on the left from a 1981 MNQ Cairo edition on 522 pages, on the right the original: a MZQ from Bairut The top seller in Egypt was a line by line copy of the MNQ 522pager written by Muḥammad Saʿd Ibrāhīm al-Ḥaddād famous under the name of the publisher: aš-Šamarlī.
What is mostly ignored: Šamarlī published MNQ in the new orthography even in the 1960s: The government press, al-Amīriyya, tried to compete: in 1976 they produced a type set version with 15 lines on 525 pages. For more than a decade they made at least four different sizes: from small in flexibel plastic to Mosque size.


on the left from the pocket version 1977, on the right the normal one the large Qaṭarī reprint 1988 Although the KFE was almost only sold to oritentalists, in the seventies many publisher "remade" it on there light tables (layout tables): the cut films they had made of the 12 liner and rearranged them: either just more lines on a page as was first done around 1933 in the "muṣḥaf al-malik" al-maṭbʿa al-miṣiriyya (Muḥammad Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Laṭīf) printed in offset I assume: die rechte Seite bekam immer einen Kustoden. Gelegentlich wurde eine Schmuckzeile ein gefügt, damit eine Sure auf einer neuen Seite anfangen kann. Der Verleger hat zu seinem neu umbrochenen und neu gerahmten auch einen Tafsīr veröffentlicht: Dār aš-Šurūq: or more and longer lines: some editions with tafsir keep the original pages other rearange the text None of these were best sellers, but combined they spread the new spelling in spite of the KFE being extremely unpopular.
Now in the Arab world and Malaysia ʿUṯmān Ṭaha versions dominate.
In India and Bangla Desh reprints of Tāj Comp. Ltd versions can be found everywhere, while in Pakistan there is fierce competion.
In South Africa Taj's 848 pages 13liner dominates, although the latest version of WII (Waterval Islamic Institute) is set in a UT like font.
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Categorization of <i>maṣāḥif</i> ‒ spelling
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