The Quran is the most widely transmitted book in the history of the world. No other book has been written and memorized by more people, in part or in full, than this scripture from God. In addition, we have manuscripts dating back to its inception. Below is a list of some of the oldest and most notable manuscripts we have to date.
Birmingham Quran manuscript (610–645 CE)
The Birmingham Quran manuscript is a single sheet of parchment on which two leaves of an early Quranic manuscript or muṣḥaf have been written. The parchment contains verses 17–31 of Surah 18 (Al-Kahf) on one leaf, while the other leaf contains the final eight verses 91–98 of Surah 19 (Maryam) and the first 40 verses of Surah 20 (Ta-Ha). The manuscript confirms the present-day sequence and conforms to the standard text. In 2015, the manuscript was radiocarbon dated to between 568 and 645 CE / 56 BH and 25 AH.
Since carbon dating is not an exact science, and we know that the first revelation of the Quran was not revealed until 610, we can speculate that this manuscript was written between 610 and 645 CE and could have been very well written during the prophet’s life.
The “Qur’ān Of ʿUthmān” At The Al-Hussein Mosque (651–705 CE)
The famous Quran of Uthman at the Al-Hussein Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, consists of 1087 folios, with only four folios missing. This signifies 99% of the entire Quran text. Each folio is about 48 cm x 51 cm with a height of 40 cm and weighs 80 kgs.
The dating of this manuscript by various scholars has been summarized by Dr. Altikulaç, who was given special access to investigate the earliest muṣḥafs attributed to Uthman. Muḥammad Bakhit considers it to be one of ʿUthmāni muṣḥaf (~651 CE / 30 AH). Labīb al-Saʿīd opines that it may be the muṣḥaf sent to Madinah or Syria. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm al-Zurqānī, author of Manāhil al-ʿIrfan, considers it to be a copy of one of the ʿUthmāni muṣḥaf. On the other hand, palaeographer Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Munajjid did not consider this manuscript to be from the time of caliph ʿUthmān. He believed that, in all probability, it was a copy made on the order of the Governor of Egypt ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Marwān (r. 685-705 CE / 65-86 AH).
Samarkand Kufic Quran (610–855CE)
The Samarkand Kufic Quran was thought to be the oldest copy of the Quran. It is believed to be written between 595 CE – 855 CE. Radiocarbon dating showed a 95.4% probability of a date between 775 and 995 CE. However, one of the folios from another manuscript (held in the Religious Administration of Muslims in Tashkent) was dated between 595 and 855 CE, with a likelihood of 95%. As the Quran was not revealed until 610, we can narrow the date to between 610 – 855 CE.
This manuscript is revered by the Muslim community as it is believed to be part of a group of Qurans commissioned by the third caliph Uthman in 651 CE. Uthman wanted to produce a standard copy of the Quran 19 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. This belief has been challenged by research that shows the manuscript came long after the 7th century.
The manuscript begins in the middle of Sura 2 verse 7 and ends at Surah 43:10. This constitutes ~81% of the total Quran.
Topkapi Manuscript (651–mid-8th century)
The Topkapi manuscript has been dated to about the early to mid-8th century and is a nearly complete text of the Quran, containing more than 99% of the text of the Quran. In that respect, it is most likely the oldest near-complete Quran in existence. But this date is challenged as this manuscript is also claimed to be attributed to the compilation done by Uthman ibn Affan (d. 656), pushing the date back to potentially 651 CE.
Codex Parisino-Petropolitanus (1st Century Hijra)
The Codex Parisino-Petropolitanus is a 98 folio Quran manuscript dating back to the 1st century Hijra, late 7th or early 8th century. The manuscript contains ~88% of the entire Quran with 70 folios at Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris; 26 folios at the National Library of Russia in Saint-Petersburg, Russia; 1 folio in the Vatican Library; and 1 folio in Khalili Collection in London.
The “Qur’ān Of ʿUthmān” In Istanbul, Turkey (651–750 CE)
The “Qur’ān Of ʿUthmān” At The Türk ve İslam Eserleri Müzesi (Turkish and Islamic Art Museum), Istanbul, Turkey, and some believe it to be one of the original Quran mushafs from Uthman, while others speculate that it was from a later date. The mushaf is held at The Türk ve İslam Eserleri Müzesi (Turkish and Islamic Art Museum), Istanbul, Turkey.
It consists of 439 folios and is written in Kufic script. Only 17 folios are missing from the manuscript, and, therefore, the manuscript constitutes 96% of the entire Quran. Dr. Altikulaç considers this manuscript to be from the second half of the 1st-century or the first half of the 2nd-century hijra. He thinks it is a Basran muṣḥaf, which does not fully conform with any of 7 or 10 mutawatir readings in terms of dotting or vowelization. Therefore, it was believed to have been written before the standardization and spread of famous readings. Likewise, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Munajjid did not consider this manuscript to be from the time of caliph ʿUthmān and dates it to second half of 1st century hijra.
The “Qur’ān Of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib” (1st–2nd Century AH)
The manuscript known as the “Qur’ān Of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib” (The Ṣanʿāʾ Muṣḥaf) is located in Jāmiʿ al-Kabir, Ṣanʿāʾ, Yemen. It consists of two volumes and contains a total of 275 folios. The extant folios contain about 86% of the text of the Qur’an.
The manuscript is dated to the second half of the 1st century or 2nd century. According to Dr. Tayyar Altikulaç, the editor of the facsimile edition, the method of dotting and vowelling, among other characteristics of this manuscript, suggests a second half of the 1st century AH date. He adds that according to Ismāʿīl b. ʿAlī al-Akwaʿ, President of the General Organization of Antiquities and Libraries, Yemen, this manuscript was probably copied in the 2nd century AH. A similar suggestion was also made by calligraphy expert Professor Dr. Muhittin Serin.
Sana’a Manuscript (632–671 CE)
The Sana’a manuscript was thought to be the oldest manuscript of the Quran in existence. The manuscript was first discovered in 1972 during renovations of the Great Mosque of Sana’a in Yemen. Construction workers uncovered a large cache of Quranic and non-Quranic manuscripts and parchments that were poorly preserved and heavily damaged.
The manuscript was identified as part of the Quran in 1981, and since then, the Yemeni Department for Antiquities — with help from foreign universities — has worked to restore the fragments. It has been radiocarbon dated to between 632 CE – 671 CE, with the lower codex dated with 99% accuracy to 671 CE.
Tübingen Fragment (649–675 CE)
The Quran fragment from the University of Tübingen in Germany has been dated to a period between 649 AD – 675 AD. This date means the manuscript was written about 20 – 40 years after the Prophet Muhammad’s death. Pieces of the manuscript were analyzed in a lab in Zürich using modern C14-radiocarbon and dated within a 95.4% statistical probability.
Hijazi Quran – Chester Beatty Library (625–725 CE)
The Chester Beatty Library possesses a Quran written in Hijazi script that they presume to be dated between 675 and 725 CE. These Qur’an folios date from the first century of Islam in either the Arabian peninsula or Syria. The Arabic is written in an unusual version of the script known as Hijazi, which originated from the Hijaz province where Mecca and Medina are located. The folios consist of suras 28:6 to 48:24 & another set for suras 85:3-110:1.
Additional Manuscripts
Codex B. L. Or. 2165 – A Qur’ānic Manuscript From 1st Century Hijra.
Hailed as by the earlier keepers of it as “probably the earliest Qur’an ever brought to Europe”, the British Library says that it is the “oldest Qur’an manuscript” in their possession. This manuscript is written in the ḥijāzī (or ma’il) script. It is usually dated around the mid-second century of hijra. However, a recent study by Yasin Dutton has shown that this manuscript is remarkably similar to the first century Qur’anic manuscript MS. Arabe 328a in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Total number of folios are 128 = 121 (B. L. Or. 2165, British Library, London) + 6 (Arabe 328e, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris) + 1 (LNS 19 CAab (bifolio), Dār al–Athar al–Islāmiyyah, Kuwait). These 128 folios contain about 57% of the total text of the Qur’an.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. B1a according to the classification of Déroche. The regionality of this codex corresponds closely with Medina. This manuscript has 251 folios = 122 (MS 18, Āstān-i Quds Library, Mashhad) + 129 (MS 4116, Āstān-i Quds Library, Mashhad). The extant folios contain >90% of the total text of the Qur’an ignoring the folios that contain a later kufic hand used in emendations. The main peculiarity of Codex Mashhad is the order of sūras in which it was originally written and late emended to conform to the traditional ʿUthmānic order. The original arrangement of sūras in this manuscript agrees with that of Ibn Masʿūd’s order of sūras.
Written in the ḥijāzī script though listed as kufic in the catalogue entry. This manuscript has been subjected to radiocarbon analysis and dated to 649-675 CE with 95.4% probability. It has 77 folios, containing continuous text of the Qur’an from 17:35 to 36:57. This constitutes about 26.2% of the total text of the Qur’an.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. The codex consists of 29 folios. There are few diacritical marks but no vocalization. The verses divisions indicate the beginning of the usage of simple ornamentation which is nothing but adjacent strokes. An interesting feature of this early ḥijāzī manuscript is the presence of sūrah al-Fātiḥah which is followed immediately by sūrah al-Baqarah. The presence of sūrah al-Fātiḥah is rare in the Qur’ans from first century hijra, the only other known example being the “Great Umayyad Qur’ān”, DAM 20-33.1, also from Ṣanʿāʾ.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. This codex was probably written by at least two different copyists as the scripts differ in various folios. There are few diacritical marks but no vocalization. The sūrahs are separated by simple ornaments. This manuscript has been subjected to radiocarbon analysis and the combined results give the date 633-665 CE with 95.4% probability. There are 35 folios in this codex and they have ~22% text of the Qur’an. Located at Dār al-Makhtūtāt, Ṣanʿāʾ, Yemen.
This monumental and the earliest kufic Qur’anic manuscript, perhaps one of the most well-studied and is dated to the last decade of the 1st century of hijra, around 710 – 715 CE, in the reign of the Umayyad Caliph al-Walīd. This manuscript is unique in the sense that it open with a group of full page images. These images are the only known Qur’an illustrations and are absolutely unique among extant Qur’an manuscripts. It is speculated that 25 folios from this codex survive. Located at Dār al-Makhtūtāt, Ṣanʿāʾ, Yemen.
This manuscript was dated by Déroche using art-historical methods to the time after 72 AH / 691-692 CE or more probably during the last quater of the 1st (early 8th) century AH. It is written in kufic or perhaps late ḥijāzī script. The letters are spread over the entire page due to an extensive use of elongation of horizontal connections or to a regular spacing of the letters or groups of letters irrespective of being part of the word or not. The sūrah headings are illuminated. The illumination of this Qur’an relies on motifs which find their parallels with the mosaics at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The codex has 33+ folios and is located at the Türk ve İslam Eserleri Müzesi (Turkish and Islamic Art Museum), Istanbul, Turkey.
Déroche is of the opinion that this copy may have been one of those that were sent by al-Hajjaj to many cities including Fusṭāṭ that contained reformed orthography. Total number of folios are 73 = 9 (Arabe 330c, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris) + 12 (Marcel 11, National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg) + 42 (Marcel 13, National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg) + 10 (Marcel 15, National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg). The extant folios contain ~30% of the text of the Qur’an.
Written in the ḥijāzī or ḥijāzī-like script. This manuscript has 88 folios = 56 (Arabe 331, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris) + 26 (Marcel 3, National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg) + 2 (Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545b + Or. 14.545c, University Library, Leiden) + 2 (A 6959 + A 6990, Oriental Institute, Chicago) + 1 (E16264 R, University of Pennsylvania Museum) + 1 (Nabécor Enchères, 2019, Lot 94). The extant folios contain ~28.5% of the text of the Qur’an. Radiocarbon analyses of folios combinely date the codex to 652-763 CE with 95.4% probability, with that range being broken down into a 89.3% probability that it dates to between 652 and 694 CE and a 6.1% probability that it dates to between 747 and 763 CE.
Written in the kufic script. This manuscript has 35 folios = 17 (Marcel 5, National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg) + 10 (Arabe 335, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris) + 4 (Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545a, University Library, Leiden) + 1 (KFQ50, Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London) + 1 (A 6958, Oriental Institute, Chicago) + 1 (E16264 K, University of Pennsylvania Museum) + 1 (Ms. 276, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha). Radiocarbon analyses of folios combinely date the codex to 652-763 CE with 95.4% probability, with that range being broken down into a 89.3% probability that it dates to between 652 and 694 CE and a 6.1% probability that it dates to between 747 and 763 CE.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. Total number of folios are 28 =17 (Marcel 17, National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg) + 7 (Mingana Islamic Arabic 1572b, University of Birmingham, Birmingham) + 4 (Ms. 67.2007, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha). The extant folios contain ~14.7% of the text of the Qur’an.
Written in the ḥijāzī-like script. Total number of folios are 23 =20 (Marcel 18/2, National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg) + 3 (Arabe 328d, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris). The extant folios contain ~9.5% of the text of the Qur’an.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. Total number of folios are 15 =13 (Marcel 19, National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg) + 2 (Arabe 328f, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris). The extant folios contain ~6.8% of the text of the Qur’an.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. This codex has 18 folios; 16 (Arabe 328c, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris) + 2 (Islamic Arabic 1572a, University of Birmingham, Birmingham). The latter has recently been radiocarbon dated to the period between 568 CE and 645 CE with confidence level (2σ) of 95.4%. The extant folios contain ~8.3% of the Qur’an.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. Total number of folios are 43 = 20 (Arabe 330g, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris) + 12 (Marcel 16, National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg) + 6 (Rennes Encheres 2011, Lot 151) + 4 (Is. 1615 II, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin) + 1 (Ms. 1611-MKH235, Beit al-Qur’an, Manama). Not taking into account fragmented folios, the rest contain about ~21% of the text of the Qur’an.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. Total number of folios are 47 = 32 (Is. 1615 I, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin) + [5 (Ms. 68.2007), + 2 (Ms. 69.2007), + 6 (Ms. 70.2007), + 1 Ms. 699.2007 (= Sotheby’s October 2008, Lot 3), Museum of Islamic Art, Doha] + 1 (TR:490-2007, Vahid Kooros Private Collection, Houston). Recently, folios from Is. 1615 I have been radiocarbon dated and the combined results give the date 591-643 CE with a confidence level (2σ) of 95.4%.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. The muṣḥaf is not vocalised. The consonants are differentiated by dashes. Six oval dots ranked in three pairs usually punctuate the verses. Every tenth verse is marked by a hollow circle surrounded by dots. This manuscript was subject to radiocarbon analysis and has been dated to 606-652 CE with 95% probability. The codex has 36 folios = 29 (Ms. Qāf 47 including Arabic Palaeography, Plate 44, Dār al-Kutub al-Misriyya, Cairo) + 7 (Ms. Or. Fol. 4313, Staatsbibliothek, Berlin). The extant folios contain ~16% of the text of the Qur’an.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. It has 10 folios; 4 (TIEM ŞE 86, Türk ve İslam Eserleri Müzesi, Istanbul) + 4 (Arabe 6140a, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris) + 2 (Camb. Ms. Add. 1125, University Library, University of Cambridge). The format is vertical, and the script which is thin and slender, also has a distinct vertical emphasis, despite the slant to the right. The text is written in brown-black ink, with occasional diacritical strokes.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. The codex has 5 folios = 1 (Sotheby’s October 2010, Lot 3) + 1 (Christie’s April 2011, Lot 10) + 1 (Christie’s October 2013, Lot 50) + 1 (Sotheby’s October 2015, Lot 56) + 1 (Sotheby’s October 2019, Lot 104). Notice that all the folios of this codex have appeared at the auction houses and hence the name “Codex Auctionalis”. There are 22-23 lines per folio. Sūrah headings are in red perhaps written by a later hand. Also seen are red vocalisation markers and dotted roundel verse markers. Consonant are differentiated by dots.
Mrs. Agnes Smith Lewis was the first scholar to publish this unique palimpsest that has scriptio superior which is a Christian material (Arabic Christian homilies) and the scriptio inferior consisting of the Qur’anic verses. Mingana presented a full transcription of the Qur’anic text of the scriptio inferior of the manuscript, with the parallel text from the present day Qur’an. But his claim of “variants” in the Qur’anic text has come under suspicion partly because of his own history of being involved in suspected forgeries. Recent study by Fedeli on this manuscript has confirmed that the “inevitable and easy conclusion” is that all of Mingana’s transcription can be suspected to be wrong. A recent surge of interest in this manuscript is due to the fact that the scriptio inferior was written in the ḥijāzī script.
This private-owned fragment of the Qur’an was recently published by Yasin Dutton. On the basis of palaeography and radiocarbon analysis, he dated it to the second half of the 1st century of hijra / late 7th or early 8th century CE.
Eight folios (one fragmentary), 20-27 lines to the page written in brown ḥijāzī script, diacritical marks, where present, consists of oval dots or angled dashes, no vowel points, clusters of brown ink dots to indicate verse divisions, circular devices consisting of green and red dots every ten verses, one long, narrow rectangular panel of green and red decoration with a circular marginal device consisting of coloured dots on final folio, probably to indicate the sūrah heading of sūrah al-Nisa, leaves sewn together with original stitching. It contains sūrah āl-‘Imrān, verses 34-184.
Written in the ḥijāzī script. Yellowish, thin parchment with strong damage. Located at the Austrian National Library, Vienna
Manuscript from the Austrian National Library, Vienna. Written in the ḥijāzī script. Two folios extant.
Manuscript from the Collection George Michaélidès, Cairo (Egypt) written in the Kufic(?) script.
An additional catalog of Quran manuscripts can be found here.
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