English: The fragment's verso (see 1-87-154.151 V) includes verses 1-3 of Chapter 46 of the Qur'an entitled Surat al-Ahqaf (The Winding Sand Tracts). The script of these pages is thuluth, a cursive script typical of the Mamluk period (14th-15th centuries) in Egypt. The background of spiral scrollwork used on this decorative page is also characteristic of Qur'ans of this period (Lings and Safadi 1976: 52-33, no. 73).

This chapter is the 7th and last of the ha-mim series (chapters 40-46). It argues that all Creation has a divine purpose behind it. For this reason, the righteous must wait with patience, as Truth and Revelation will be vindicated. The letters ha-mim comprise the mystery or abbreviated letters (al-muqatta'at) appearing singly or in combination at the beginning of certain chapters in the Qur'an. Many scholars of mystical inclination have tried to attach various esoteric meanings to these letters, searching in them deeper axiomatic truths about God and the world.

The juz' (section) marker forms an artistic break in the Qur'an. The inscriptions at the top and bottom are executed in gold ink into a black calligraphic outline inscribed on the cream-colored page. These are placed on a red background with arabesques of blue and green leaves. The inscription on the center panel also emerges through an extractive technique. The letters are formed by the cream-colored page showing from below the blue background, also decorated with concentric vines and leaves.

Other extractive calligraphic techniques include procedures of paper cutting or découpage (Safwat 1996, 194), in which letter forms are cut out from a colored paper and pasted onto a differently-colored ground (see 1-87-154.152). In both procedures, the basic principle consists in letting the background paper create the internal structure of the letters themselves. This demanding and precise work shows the various ways in which calligraphers could show their mastery of calligraphy through extractive, rather than additive, methods.

Description from Library of Congress: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.172