Page from a Qur'an manuscript

Qur’an manuscripts, containing within their pages “the words of God” as received by Prophet Muhammad, are typically written in clear, legible, and elegant calligraphy. They are further made beautiful with gold ornamentation, especially on their opening and closing pages. Inner pages of a manuscript, such as this example, are decorated only with chapter headings, verse stops, and marginal designs marking textual divisions.

This page contains near its center a decorated heading for chapter 51, "The Winds That Scatter" (Surah adh- Dhariyat), the text of which begins below it. Headings always include the chapter’s name, the number of its verses (sixty here), and the place of its revelation (Mecca, in this case). Given Islam’s wide geographic spread, the Arabic text of the Qur’an is sometimes translated into regional languages. Here, the words in red are Persian translations of the Arabic, suggesting that this Qur’an was intended for a reader in present-day Iran, Afghanistan, or India.