The "Anonymous Baghdad Qur'an" (707 AH/1307–8)

The "Anonymous Baghdad Qur'an" is the name given to a large thirty-part Qur'an produced at Baghdad in 707 AH/1307–8 CE; The Met holds its colophon folio, written in muhaqqaq. ¹

The calligrapher was Ahmad ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri, pupil of Yaqut al-Musta'simi, known for many luxurious Qur'ans and for designing inscriptions for buildings in Baghdad; this is his best-known work. The illuminator was Muhammad ibn Aybak ibn Abdallah. ¹ Maryam Ekhtiar names Ahmad ibn al-Suhrawardi as the most notable of Yaqut's pupils and the colophon, which carries his name, as a fine example of his hand. ²

Made under the Ilkhanids, the lavish Qur'an was, the author suggests, possibly commissioned by the ruler or a statesman of the time — perhaps the sultan (she names Ghazan and Uljaitu) or one of his viziers, possibly Rashid al-Din; hence it remains "anonymous". ¹