Celebrating the art of the Qurʾan and the publication of the book Sea of Ink, Forest of Pens: The Art of the Qurʾan in the Hossein Afshar Collection, this presentation highlights a dozen masterworks that span the 7th to 19th century, shedding light on the production of deluxe Qurʾan manuscripts from across Islamic lands over more than 1,200 years. In addition, two contemporary works from the MFAH collection respond to the Qurʾan in unique ways. 

The Qurʾan is the Arabic-language earthly scripture of God’s divine, eternal speech. Calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, enhances the spiritual, philosophical, and semantic significance of the Qurʾan by enriching it through ornamentation. 

Highlights

• Folio from a Qurʾan Manuscript
  Written in Hijazi script style on parchment, this mid-7th-century folio from Saudi Arabia is from one of the earliest copies of the Qurʾan, of which only pages and fragments survive. 
• Qurʾan Manuscript
  A beautifully illuminated work from Iran, dated AH 1260/1844–45, this manuscript is signed and dated by calligrapher Mir ʿAbd al-Karim Muhammad Sadiq al-Husayni al-Yazdi.
• Pouran Jinchi’s Tajvid Red 2
  This contemporary ink-on-paper scroll from 2009 interprets one of the most important aspects of the Qurʾan: its tajvid, or proper recitation. The work highlights the rhythmic and performative quality of the calligraphic act by shifting the viewer’s attention from a word’s meaning to its sound. 
• Haji Noor Deen’s Ayat al-Kursi Scroll
  In this 2015 work, master calligrapher Haji Noor Deen combines the discipline of the Islamic calligraphic reed pen with the flowing style of the Chinese calligraphic brush by using Sini Arabic script to copy the Ayat al-Kursi, or Throne Verse, a widely recited and inscribed Qurʾanic verse believed to offer protection over homes and families. 

Plan Your Visit

• This exhibition is located in the Hossein Afshar Galleries for Art of the Islamic Worlds on Level 1 of the Law Building.
• Parking Information | Museum Hours | MFAH Campus Map

Sea of Ink, Forest of Pens: The Art of the Qurʾan in the Hossein Afshar Collection / June 28, 2025–June 21, 2026