A Copy of Codex Mashhad Presented to Imam Hussein Shrine

IQNA – A copy of Codex Mashhad, a 14-cenury-old Quran manuscript, has been presented to the Astan (custodianship) of Imam Hussein (AS) Holy Shrine in Karbala.

Quran researcher and translator Morteza Kariminia offered the facsimile copy to Isa al-Kharsan, an official with the Astan last week.

 Dating Back to the first century after Hijra (7^th century AD), the codex is in Hijazi script — the collective name for a number of early Arabic scripts that developed in the Hejaz region of Arabia.

“Based on the textual characteristics of this codex, including custom features, spelling features, variations in readings, and the arrangement of surahs, along with extensive Carbon 14 testing, it is evident that the primary portion of this version dates back to the first century,” Kariminia said in the meeting.

He noted that the Aal-Bayt Institute in Qom, in collaboration with Astan Quds Razavi, has published the complete text of Codex Mashhad.

This edition includes explanations and an annotated introduction in both Arabic and English languages, presented in facsimile printing to faithfully replicate the original, he added.

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Codex Mashhad was unveiled in a ceremony in Mashhad last month. The 252-page copy contains 95 percent of the text of the Holy Book.

It was written on parchment measuring 35 by 50 centimeters either in Medina or Kufa and was later taken to Khorasan (northeast Iran).

Then in the late 5th Hijri century, the owner endowed the copy to the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS).

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