The Image of The Word

In Islam, the concept that the Word was revealed to man in its highest and final form in the Qurʾan has made it the foundation of all Muslim artistic expression. The authors of this study present a collection of published transcriptions of Qurʾanic inscriptions on Islamic monuments from Jerusalem, Cairo, and Damascus in order to determine how the inscriptions were used and what patterns, if any, might contribute to an appreciation of the religious content of a work of art. The study is limited to the world of medieval Islam when religious foundations were at their greatest strength and vitality, and found their most integrated expression. Volume I presents the texts and photographs of the inscriptions, while Volume II gives three indexes of the verses: in order of the suras, used geographically, and according to their locations within buildings.