Allah u Akbar: Saudi unveils 12th century `Quran of Seven Readings’ in Riyadh  

Riyadh: A 12th-century copy of the Holy Quran has been unveiled at Riyadh International Book Fair.

Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that the manuscript of “Quran of the Seven Readings”, written by Abdullah bin Bashir Al-Hadrami, one of Sohar’s scholars in the 12th century AH, bears the entire text of the Holy Quran, with a notation of the seven readings in the footnotes.

The manuscript differs from the traditional way of writing the Quran and is characterized by rare artistic aspects.

Each part of the Holy Quran begins on the left page and is divided into 8 sheets, or 16 pages, the manuscript of “The Qur’an of the Seven Readings”, written by Abdullah bin Bashir al-Hadrami.

The SPA pointed out that Al-Hadrami was adept at coordinating pages and lines, as each page begins with the first verse and ends with the end of a verse, and the first letter with which the first line of each page begins is the same as the one with which the last line begins on the same page.

The first letter of the second line from the top of the page is the same as the first letter of the penultimate line, and so on in the rest of the lines, and the manuscript formatting continues with this symmetry in the rest of the pages.

As for the eighth line in the middle of the right page, the first letter of it is the same letter with which the eighth line of the left page begins, contrary to what is prevalent in writing the Quran.

The Riyadh International Book Fair began on September 29, with the participation of 1,200 publishing houses – representing 32 countries, including Tunisia, as the guest of honor in this session.

The exhibition – organized by the Saudi literature, publishing, and translation authority under the slogan ‘culture classes’ will continue until October 8 at the Riyadh Front.