The Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī: The Earliest Complete Dated Qurʾānic Manuscript Containing a Persian Translation
This volume constitutes the oldest complete, dated Qurʾānic codex containing a full Persian translation, dating back to the year 546 AH / 1151 CE. The original document is preserved under catalogue number 551 at the Reza Abbasi Museum in Tehran. The purpose of this concise introduction is to present this significant artifact and to underscore its scholarly importance within the fields of Qurʾānic studies and Persian linguistic history.
This volume constitutes the oldest complete, dated Qurʾānic codex containing a full Persian translation, dating back to the year 546 AH / 1151 CE. The original document is preserved under catalogue number 551 at the Reza Abbasi Museum in Tehran. The purpose of this concise introduction is to present this significant artifact and to underscore its scholarly importance within the fields of Qurʾānic studies and Persian linguistic history.
Introduction
The Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī: The Earliest Complete Dated Qurʾānic Manuscript Containing a Persian Translation
Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī: The Earliest Complete Dated Qurʾān with Persian Translation, scribed by Abū al-Fakhr b. Abī al-Faḍl al-Zaʿfarānī, 546 AH/1151 CE; edited and introduced by M. Karimi-Nia, Tehran: Farhang-e Siadat, 2026 (1404 Sh.), 792pp. ISBN: 978-622-89623-0-6.
This volume constitutes the oldest complete, dated Qurʾānic codex containing a full Persian translation, dating back to the year 546 AH / 1151 CE. The original document is preserved under catalogue number 551 at the Reza Abbasi Museum in Tehran. The purpose of this concise introduction is to present this significant artifact and to underscore its scholarly importance within the fields of Qurʾānic studies and Persian linguistic history.
The earliest Persian translations of the Qurʾān constitute exceptionally rare and valuable primary sources for both Qurʾānic studies and the historical development of the Persian language. These manuscripts provide rich and indispensable material for research into the textual transmission and codification of the Qurʾān, its orthography and scribal conventions, the diversity of canonical readings, as well as the related arts of calligraphy, illumination, and book production. Furthermore, they offer detailed insights into the reception, interpretation, and intellectual engagement with the Qurʾān in early Islamic Iran, while also illuminating the broader intellectual, cultural, and social milieu of the period.
Nevertheless, the paramount significance of these translations ultimately resides in their pivotal contribution to reconstructing the history of the Persian language and its literary heritage. They represent indispensable sources for research on early Persian lexicon, etymology, semantic evolution, regional linguistic dialects, orthographic norms, and grammatical systems during the language’s formative phase. Consequently, Persian Qurʾānic translations and commentaries have garnered sustained scholarly interest, generating hundreds — if not thousands — of studies examining their linguistic, stylistic, and philological characteristics, as well as their status within the dual contexts of religious and literary canons.
Among the most prominent works comprising this corpus are: Tarjame-yi Tafsīr-i Ṭabarī (the Persian translation of al-Ṭabarī’s Tafsīr); the commentaries of al-Nasafī, Shāhfūr al-Isfarāʾīnī, al-Sūrābādī, al-Darwājakī, Abu al-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, and Baṣāʾir al-Yamīnī; the translation and commentary of al-Meybudī (Kashf al-asrār); the Qurʾān of al-Rayy dated 556 AH; the commentary of al-Shunqashī; Tarjame-yi Qurʾān-i Mūze-yi Pārs )the Persian Qurʾān of Fārs Museum(; Qurʾān-i Quds )the Persian Qurʾān of Quds(; Tafsīr-i Qurʾān-i Pāk; Sūrah-yi Māʾidah az Qurʾān-i Kūfī-yi Kuhan (the Sūrat al-Māʾida extracted from an early Kufic Qurʾān); Tafsīrī bar ʿUshrī az Qurʾān-i Majīd (Commentary on One-Tenth of the Noble Qurʾān); and, finally, the translation and commentary of al-Ḥaddādī, entitled Maʿānī Kitāb Allāh wa-Tafsīruhu al-Munīr.
The Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī with a Persian Translation
The manuscript cataloged as number 551 in the Reza Abbasi Museum represents one of the most significant Qurʾānic codices accompanied by a Persian translation from the sixth century AH/ 12 CE. Until recently, this substantial artifact had remained largely unexamined within the mainstream of scholarly research in Qurʾānic studies and codicology. It is a complete copy of the Qurʾān, supplemented with an interlinear Persian translation, copied in 546 AH/ 1151 CE by the scribe Abu al-Fakhr b. Abi al-Faḍl al-Zaʿfarānī.
The Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī is of exceptional significance as the earliest complete, dated Qurʾānic manuscript extant that features a purely Persian translation. Other known manuscripts are either undated, incomplete, lack an independent translation of the Qurʾānic text, or postdate 546 AH/ 1151 CE. Similarly, while several Persian Qurʾānic works are attested from before the mid-sixth century AH, all of these—including the Persian translation of al-Ṭabarī’s Tafsīr, and the commentaries of al-Sūrābādī, al-Shunqashī, al-Isfarāʾīnī, al-Ḥaddādī, al-Nasafī, Abu al-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, al-Maybadī, al-Darwājakī, Baṣāʾir al-Yamīnī, and related texts — are categorized as Persian Qurʾānic exegeses, whether extensive or concise, rather than as purely translational renditions of the Qurʾānic text itself.
In this regard, the Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī is distinctive as a complete and independent Persian translation of the Qurʾān. The Persian translation in this manuscript was inserted between the lines of the Arabic text with the exclusive purpose of conveying the semantic content of the verses, devoid of explanatory, exegetical, or interpretive elaboration. Consequently, the manuscript holds a dual scholarly value: firstly, for the history of Persian Qurʾān translation; and secondly, for the study of the early development of the Persian language within its religious and textual milieu.
Extant Manuscripts of the Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī
To the best of our present knowledge, only two manuscripts of the Qurʾān with a Persian translation, produced by Abu al-Fakhr al-Zaʿfarānī, are known to survive. The older manuscript, dated Rabīʿ al-Thānī 546 AH/ August 1151 CE, is preserved in the Reza Abbasi Museum in Tehran, while the more recent one, dated Jumāda al-ʾŪlā 548 AH/ August 1153 CE, is housed in the Library of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Ankara, Turkey). The two codices are approximately similar in size and general structure, and in both, the interlinear Persian translation of the verses is written interlinearly in a relatively fine hand.
The Colophon of the Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī, Reza Abbasi Museum, Tehran (dated Rabīʿ al-Ākhir 546 AH / July 1151 CE)
A comparative examination reveals a high degree of similarity between the two copies in terms of the structural divisions of the Qurʾānic text and the system of paratextual annotations, particularly the marginal signs indicating sajdah (prostration), takhmīs (quintuple divisions), and taʿshīr (decuple divisions), which are drawn in a closely related style. Most significantly, the colophons concluding the text proper in both manuscripts are nearly identical in wording and content. The sole discrepancy is that the Ankara manuscript explicitly states that it was copied in the city of Rayy, whereas the Tehran manuscript's colophon omits any mention of the place of copying. However, the aggregate data available concerning the scribe and the context of this manuscript’s production strongly suggests that the Tehran copy was likewise produced in the region of Rayy.
The Colophon of the Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī, Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Library, Ankara (dated Jumādā al-Ūlā 548 AH / August 1153 CE, Rayy)
The principal characteristics of the two manuscripts are summarized in the following table:
MS Name Repository & Shelfmark Copying Date Place of Copying Script Type Number of Folios
Tehran Manuscript Reza Abbasi Museum, No. 551 546 AH Probably Rayy Naskh + Muḥaqqaq 328 folios
Ankara Manuscript Library of Religious Affairs, No. 1248 548 AH Rayy Muḥaqqaq 334 folios
The Reza Abbasi Museum Manuscript (Tehran)
The present edition is based primarily on the manuscript preserved as number 551 in the Reza Abbasi Museum, Tehran. This codex consists of 328 large-format folios, measuring approximately 36.5×29 cm. Each page contains eleven lines of the Qurʾānic text, corresponding to eleven lines of the Persian translation written interlinearly, and executed in an early style of naskh script. On both levels (the Arabic and the Persian), this script represents an important early exemplar in the history of copying the noble Qurʾān in this hand, characterized by precision, regularity, and relative clarity during a period when the naskh script was still in a phase of development and formal stabilization.
Abu al-Fakhr al-Zaʿfarānī: A Muʿtazilī Scholar and Scribe of Rayy
The personal identity of the translator of this Qurʾānic codex into Persian remains only partially documented in the extant biographical and historical sources. Nevertheless, close textual analysis of the Persian interlinear translation reveals a strong and systematic dependence on the Persian tafsīr of al-Sūrābādī by Abū Bakr ʿAtīq b. Muḥammad al-Sūrābādī (d. 494 AH / 1100–1101 CE). Given that the Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī was copied in 546 AH / 1151 CE, approximately five decades after al-Sūrābādī’s death, it is reasonable to posit an indirect scholarly affiliation with the exegetical tradition associated with al-Sūrābādī, rather than direct transmission.
On the basis of the internal evidence of the manuscript, it is highly probable that the translator of the Qurʾān was also the scribe of the codex itself, namely Abu al-Fakhr al-Zaʿfarānī. The Persian text written interlinearly cannot be reduced to a mechanical extraction from al-Sūrābādī’s tafsīr. Rather, it displays clear signs of authorial intervention, including lexical diversification, syntactic restructuring, and selective reformulation of exegetical content. These features indicate an active and reflective engagement with the source material, suggesting that the translator sought to produce a linguistically coherent and theologically consistent Persian rendering of the Qurʾānic text.
The name “Abu al-Fakhr b. Abi al-Faḍl al-Zaʿfarānī” appears explicitly in the colophons of two dated manuscripts, copied respectively in 546 AH / 1151 CE and 548 AH / 1153 CE and preserved today in Tehran and Ankara. Despite this secure attribution, the available sources offer no substantial biographical data concerning his life or any additional writings. The nisba al-Zaʿfarānī is likely occupational in origin, possibly referring to involvement in the cultivation or trade of saffron (zaʿfarān), yet neither his given name nor that of his father is known with certainty. Only two kunyas —Abu al-Fakhr and Abu al-Faḍl— have survived in the manuscript tradition. Furthermore, no unequivocal reference to him has yet been identified in the major catalogues of Arabic and Persian manuscripts in Iran or elsewhere, although this absence should not be interpreted as definitive proof of his obscurity or lack of further literary activity.
His evident mastery of the scripts muḥaqqaq, thuluth, and naskh in the copying of the Qurʾān points to a high level of professional competence in calligraphy and manuscript production. At the same time, his careful reworking of al-Sūrābādī’s tafsīr —through the elimination of expansive commentary and the selective retention of doctrinally salient elements— reflects a solid grounding in the Islamic sciences, particularly Qurʾānic exegesis and Arabic–Persian philology.
More significantly, the theological orientation discernible in the Persian translation aligns closely with key Muʿtazilī principles. These include a consistent avoidance of anthropomorphic language in reference to the divine attributes (ṣifāt), a tendency to interpret problematic expressions in ways compatible with divine transcendence (tanzīh), and a clear sensitivity to issues surrounding divine justice (ʿadl). Certain translational choices further suggest an awareness of Muʿtazilī debates concerning the createdness of human acts (khalq al-afʿāl), the rejection of unqualified attribution of morally negative actions to God, and a cautious handling of verbs implying temporal change or acquisition of knowledge when predicated of the divine essence. So, the overall theological tenor of the translation is broadly consistent with classical Muʿtazilī positions.
In Islamic sources, the nisba al-Zaʿfarānī is associated with various individuals and groups in regions such as Hamadān, Baghdad, Baṣra, and Rayy. Villages bearing the name al-Zaʿfarāniyya are attested in Hamadān and in the environs of Baghdad. However, given that Abu al-Fakhr al-Zaʿfarānī copied both of his known manuscripts in Rayy, it is unlikely that he originated from those areas. Instead, he should be situated within the intellectual landscape of central Iran. Owing to its strategic geographical position and its remarkable diversity of theological and juridical traditions, Rayy functioned as one of the most important centers of learning in the Islamic world, particularly between the third and sixth centuries AH (ninth–twelfth centuries CE).
During this period, Rayy was home to a wide range of religious and intellectual movements, including Shāfiʿī, Ḥanafī, Shīʿī, Zaydī, and Ismāʿīlī communities, as well as several Muʿtazilī currents. Among the latter, particular prominence was enjoyed by the Najjāriyya —the followers of al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Najjār al-Rāzī (d. 220 AH / 835–836 CE)— and by a splinter group known as the Zaʿfarāniyya, which constituted one of the most influential Muʿtazilī tendencies in Rayy. A survey of the early heresiographical and historical sources indicates that members of the Zaʿfarāniyya were active in the city from the third through the sixth centuries AH.
On the basis of the available historical data and a close analysis of the linguistic and exegetical features of the Persian translation preserved in the Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī, it may therefore be concluded that Abu al-Fakhr al-Zaʿfarānī was a Persian-speaking scholar of Rayy active in the mid-sixth century AH (twelfth century CE). He most likely belonged to the intellectual lineage of the Zaʿfarāniyya and adhered, in his general theological orientation, to the foundational doctrines of Muʿtazilī thought.
Calligraphy and Illumination of the Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī
The script of the Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī preserved in the Reza Abbasi Museum is executed in a hand that combines naskh with elements of muḥaqqaq and rayḥān, while remaining clearly distinct from the later Yāqūtī naskh. In this manuscript, the presence of rayḥān is readily discernible in the ductus of the pen; nevertheless, the overall structural framework of the script remains fundamentally naskh.
The scribe’s command of the pen is remarkable, and when assessed in light of the manuscript’s date of production, this copy must be regarded as a particularly fine example of Qurʾānic calligraphy. The manuscript is written in a notably restrained and unpretentious manner, making it evident that practical usability and legibility were prioritized over purely aesthetic considerations.
From the perspective of ornamentation and illumination, the manuscript is no less significant, representing a refined and valuable example of Seljuq-period gilding. During this period, illumination was fundamentally based on the extensive use of gold leaf. The opening pages correspond closely to other known examples from this era, consisting of two rectangular frames surrounded by margins decorated with arabesque and chain motifs, together with two epigraphic bands positioned above and below the main text.
The decorative programs of these epigraphic bands are predominantly curvilinear and comprise multi-lobed arabesques, floral and foliate motifs, as well as spiral elements. Within these bands, the sūra headings are written in gold-outlined (muḥarrar) Kufic script, while on either side of the band two arched cartouches are set against a lapis-lazuli ground and embellished with arabesque ornamentation. The verse endings are marked with so-called “mouse-tooth” (dandān-mūshī) motifs filled with fine cross-hatched shading.
The separation between verses is further articulated by six-petaled floral motifs, while in the opening pages small shamsa medallions are employed, drawn at the center of lotus blossoms and encircled by interconnected leaves. The markers for takhmīs, taʿshīr, and related divisions are rendered in solar and lobed medallion (turanj) forms, sometimes resembling vase-like shapes; some of these markers are inscribed in Kufic script. In addition, certain sūra headings are written in gold-outlined tawqīʿ script.
Several other sūra titles are likewise executed in Kufic script and framed within epigraphic panels and side turanj medallions, decorated with motifs closely resembling those of the illuminated opening pages. The opening folio itself is fully illuminated, adorned with four sixteen-pointed star-like forms, together with the full range of decorative elements described above, and executed in gold, lapis lazuli, and cinnabar pigments. At the conclusion of certain sūras, gold decorative bands are drawn on either side of the final formula.
Taken as a whole, the illumination of the Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī constitutes one of the most elaborate and high-quality examples of Seljuq-period manuscript gilding, and it clearly reflects the distinguished status and importance attributed to this manuscript at the time of its production.
General Characteristics of the Persian Translation
The general features of the Persian translation in the Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī are consistent with the dominant trends of Qurʾānic translation from the fourth to the sixth centuries AH (tenth to twelfth centuries CE). This translation is distinguished above all by its rigorously literal character, based on a strict word-for-word method, whereby the translator places a Persian equivalent beneath each individual Qurʾānic term. As a result, the syntactic structure of the Persian rendering closely mirrors the Arabic grammatical construction of the verses.
A second prominent feature of the al-Zaʿfarānī translation is its reliance on the Persian tafsīr of Sūrābādī. In effect, the Persian translation of the Qurʾān of al-Zaʿfarānī may be regarded as a conscious reworking and refinement of Sūrābādī’s exegetical text. A close comparison of the two, however, makes it clear that al-Zaʿfarānī’s work cannot be reduced to mere transcription or mechanical copying. His particular skill lies in extracting a pure translation of the Qurʾānic verses from within the interwoven fabric of translation and exegesis found in Sūrābādī, and subsequently reshaping and polishing that material in accordance with his own linguistic sensibility and stylistic preferences. Consequently, while this translation is deeply rooted in the Sūrābādī tradition, it is equally indebted to al-Zaʿfarānī’s own pen, intellectual agency, and relative independence.
In his Persian rendering, al-Zaʿfarānī restricts interpretive additions to the bare minimum, a feature that sharply distinguishes his work from near-contemporary examples, such as the so-called “Qurʾān of Rayy” (manuscript no. 661 in the Library of Āstān Quds Raḍavī, dated 556 AH / 1161 CE). In that translation, the rendering departs to some extent from strict literalism and incorporates short or extended explanatory phrases. By contrast, al-Zaʿfarānī, through his unwavering adherence to the principle of “word corresponding to word,” seeks to preserve the highest possible degree of structural and semantic congruence between the Arabic Qurʾānic text and its Persian translation.
Several additional factors further enhance the historical and scholarly value of this manuscript. These include: (1) the use of a broad spectrum of early Persian vocabulary current in Rayy and Nishapur during the fifth and sixth centuries AH (eleventh–twelfth centuries CE); (2) the orthographic practices employed in writing Persian words, which shed light on the development of Persian script in the sixth century AH; (3) the evidence the translation provides for dialectal and phonological features of early Persian pronunciation; (4) the translator’s consistent effort to maintain uniformity and coherence in the selection of Persian equivalents for Arabic terms throughout the Qurʾān; (5) his insistence on translating Arabic proper names and technical designations — such as Rūḥ al-Qudus, Muḥammad, Dhū al-Nūn, al-Aḥqāf, and Iblīs — into Persian; (6) the reflection of theological (kalām) orientations in the translation of certain verses, particularly with regard to the divine attributes, and the attribution of acts to God; and finally, (7) the documentation of variant Qurʾānic readings (qirāʾāt), attested both in the Arabic text of the manuscript and in its Persian translation.
On the Present Edition
The present volume comprises a complete facsimile reproduction of the original manuscript, accompanied by the Qurʾānic text rendered in modern orthography, together with a fully critical edition of the Persian translation of the Qurʾānic verses, supplemented by explanatory footnotes. In this edition, images of all folios of MS 551 preserved in the Reza Abbasi Museum are reproduced in full. On the upper half of each page, I have placed the Qurʾānic text in its contemporary standardized orthography — following the conventions of the Markaz-e Ṭabʿ va Nashr-e Qurʾān of the Islamic Republic of Iran (The Holy Quran Print and Punlishing Center) — while the critically edited Persian translation is presented in the lower half of the page.
It is self-evident that the orthography (rasm) of the manuscript, the vocalization and reading of individual words (qirāʾāt), as well as the placement of verse endings (ʿadd al-āy) in early Qurʾānic codices frequently diverge from the orthographic, readings, and verse-counting conventions commonly adopted in modern printed Qurʾāns. All such points of divergence are systematically identified and discussed in the footnotes.
In addition to establishing a critical text of al-Zafarānī’s Persian translation and providing philological and exegetical annotations, I have compiled two comprehensive glossaries — Arabic–Persian and Persian–Arabic — based on the edited text of this early Qurʾānic translation. These tools are intended to facilitate scholarly access for specialists in Qurʾānic studies and historians of the Persian language, enabling them to trace with greater ease the full range of usages of Persian vocabulary in this work, as well as the Qurʾānic equivalents corresponding to each lexical item.
It is my hope that this multi-year scholarly undertaking — prepared with the technical and artistic collaboration of my colleagues and now brought to publication by Farhang-e Siadat Publishing House — will open new avenues of inquiry in the study of early Qurʾānic manuscripts and the Persian language as employed in the earliest translated Qurʾāns.
Morteza Karimi-Nia
Tehran, December 2025
Tehran, December 2025
شنبه ۱۰ مرداد ۱۴۰۵ ساعت ۵:۳۷
