Wednesday, 22 July 2026

a counterfactual history ...

... of Qurʾānic printing.
The revisted KFEII (1952: 827 typeset pages, 12 lines) provided the text (Q52) for three fully berKenar maṣāḥif that is, each page begins with a new verse and ends with a verse, with no verse carried across a page break.
One realization was the 1383/1963 Cairo muṣḥaf, a 486‑page edition set in 16 lines, completely re‑flowed and strictly baseline‑oriented.
A second written by Šukrī Ḥaršu aš-Ṣīšānī for Ibn Katheer in Damascus: 17 lines on 486 pages (as well). The "winner" was the 1399/1979 Damascus muṣḥaf, the 604‑page handwritten edition by ʿUṯmān Ṭaha in an extremely linear calligraphic style.
Had the 1963 Cairo edition received broader attention — and had the Madina/KFC project adopted its disciplined, fully berKenar page architecture — it could realistically have become the "standard" UT is today.
In this counterfactual history, the development of Qurʾānic printing would have followed the 1963 model: a modern, baseline‑oriented berKenar layout derived from the 1952 KFAII type, rather than the handwritten 604‑page form that ultimately prevailed.

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a counterfactual history ...

... of Qurʾānic printing. The revisted KFEII (1952: 827 typeset pages, 12 lines) provided the text (Q52) for three fully berKenar maṣāḥif...