Qur'an leaf in maghribi script, from Africa or Spain, 1200s

Source: http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/vatican.exhibit/exhibit/h-orient_to_rome/Eastern_lang2.html#orient11
(downloaded Oct. 2002)

Fragment of a Quran, Sura 33: 73-74. In Arabic, Spain or northwest Africa, Thirteenth century

One of the first Quranic manuscripts to enter the Vatican Library, this codex comes from a "madrasa" or mosque school in Tunis and was probably taken when the troops of Charles V captured the city in July 1535. A fine example of the "maghribi" script typical of northwest Africa and Muslim Spain, the manuscript also contains good illuminations. It is only a fragment of the Auran, from sura 33:31 to sura 35:45 (part 22). The pages shown here bear the last two verses of sura 33 (verses 73-74).

Vat. ar. 214 fols. 24 recto - 23 verso orient11 AH.15