The Pink Qurʾan: A Reverse Biography

Among the most famous and easily recognisable Qurʾanic leaves circulating on the Islamic art market today are undoubtedly those of the so-called “Pink Qurʾan”, a Maghribi manuscript generally attributed to al-Andalus (Muslim Iberia). Over time, its fragmentation and dispersal worldwide have contributed to the partial erasure of its history, and to its dissociation from its context of production and the city where it was kept for centuries – namely, Marrakesh – causing misunderstandings as to its provenance and date. The present article aims to redress these misunderstandings, demonstrating that the Pink Qurʾan is an Almohad artifact from the second quarter of the thirteenth century CE, and arguing for its North African (rather than Iberian) origin. The article traces the manuscript’s dispersal and reconstructs its biography in reverse chronological order, based on the close examination of the volumes still in Marrakesh and their lacunae. The Pink Qurʾan is here considered in its entirety for the very first time, revealing its two distinct styles of calligraphy and illumination; its extremely detailed system of textual division and verse counting; its later history of re-endowments and restorations under the Marinid, Saadian and Alawite dynasties; and its paramount importance for the study of the arts of the book in the Islamic West.