User:Nabraha/sandbox

Group members: Neomi Abrahamson, Ariana Daney, Ev Ackert, Jackie Cameron

Intro: A Fal-i Qur'an is a divinatory Qur'an used to predict and interpret the future for the user. The word Fal-i, comes from the Persian and means divination. Islamic divinatory and occult practices grew in popularity during the Safavid Empire’s rule, and manifested through practices such as astrology, geomancy, and the use of Fal-i Qur'ans (melvin-koushki 349). The use of the Fal-i Qur’an draws on previous practices across religions of using holy books for bibliomancy. Engaging in these divinatory tools allowed users to interpret events in their lives and offer advice (Gruber 30). Fal-i Qur'ans are often associated with Falnama, decorated fortune telling books. A Fal-i Qur'an is made up of a standard Qur'an with a divination chart at the end. The divination charts found in Fal-i Qur’ans consist of a letter table and corresponding explanations which users can understand by following specific steps, to answer and offer advice to posed questions (Gruber 34). The majority of Fal-i Qur'ans still existing today are from the Safavid period, therefore created in the Safavid Quranic style. Safavid Qur'ans were typically ___ (will add for decorative styles but haven't been able to go to the art library and look at the physical books - will tomorrow!)

Materials: The process of creating a Safavid qur'an took the skills of many artists. Every aspect of the qur'an, from the binding, the decorations and the calligraphy of the text itself, required the mastery of a different set of materials. The calligraphy was inscribed in multiple styles depending on the text. Thuluth could be written in blue or white ink to label sura titles and number verses. The names of Allah were written in muhaqqaq in blue or gold (Farhad 266). Blue and gold are the primary colors used in Safavid qur'ans with red black and white making up the secondary color scheme to add richness to the color palette. Gold and lapis ink were used in smaller quantities as the final layer (Farhad 272). Safavid qur'ans were often bound in lavishly decorated gilded leather, protecting the more fragile parchment. The leather was covered in decorative motifs that stood in relief to the red brown leather. Some sections were left ungilded to highlight the contrast in color and textures of the shiny gold and matte leather (Farhad 290). The leather covers were practical for protecting the qur'an while serving a decorative purpose.

Function and Divination: Fal-i Qur’ans function within a larger Islamic practice of bibliomancy, with methods derived from earlier bibliomaniac practices in Judaism, Christianity, and Central Asian Buddhism (Gruber 30-31). Ottoman fal-i Qur’an practices began in the 15th century when a Shi’i fālnāma was translated into Ottoman Turkish (Gruber 44) Multiple texts, including the Qur’an, have been used in Persian Islamic practices. Other texts include the Dīvān, or the “Compendium of Poems” written by Perssian poet Ḥāfiẓ. This text and excerpts from it are still used today for bibliomancy (Gruber 32). In Persian fal-i Qur’an practices, manuscripts detailing how to use and interpret Qur’anic divination were often referred to as fālnāma, and could be included in the back of the Qur’an or as free standing text (Gruber 35). Persian or Shi’i fal-i Qur’an divination was derived from the interpretive power of Quranic verses (Gruber 32). In order to answer a divinatory question using a fal-i Qur’an the practitioner was first instructed to recite certain verses from the Qur’an, such as the “Throne Verse '' from the al-Baqarah surah (Savage-Smith 150). The practitioner would then navigate to a random page in a complete Qur’an codex (Gruber 32). The divinatory tables in the back of the Qur’an could then be used to aid in interpreting the passage or letter the practitioner had randomly selected (need citation).

Examples of Fal-i Qur’an Central Library of Tehran University contains manuscripts with verses and prose in the back. At the Austrian National Library in Vienna, Austria, there is a Qur’an with the book of Divination at the end, dating from AH 952/1545 AD, from the Safavid Dynasty in Iran There is a miniature Qur’an with a folio of a filnama in the back with instructions for divination and inception of a divination grid, at the Lilly Library, University, Bloomington, Indiana. The Quran is from Safavid Iran 1551. There is a single sheet of a Qur’an with a filnama with instructions for divination and a divination grid from Safavid Iran 1560-70s at the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. There is a fal-i Qur’an containing a divination grid from Safavid Persian, but containing evidence of Ottoman interaction from 1550-1600, at the Library of Congress There is a Safavid Qur’an with divinatory text made in the 16th century, in the Keir Collection, England There is a Safavid Qur’an with a divination treatise entitled ‘On FDivination by the Glorious Word of God’ from 1594 in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris There is a 16th century Safavid Qur’an with There is a Safavid Qur’an with divinatory text which is not attributed to an author from teh 16th century in the Mevlāna Museum, Konya There is a Qur’an from the Safavid Dynasty with divination tables at the end from 17th century Iran in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore