Preparing the facsimile edition of the Codex Mashhad entailed a meticulous examination of the text and a thorough evaluation of its contents. The images of the folios of two Qur’ānic manuscripts, namely Nos. 18 and 4116 at the Āstān-I Quds Library (Mashhad), are arranged in their original sequence on the pages on the right-hand side. The edition of each page and annotations appear on the facing page, on the left-hand side.

The text of the Qur’ānic verses is transcribed in the edition precisely as it appears in the original manuscript (as imaged on the right-hand side). Each line is accompanied by a number to facilitate comparison between the original manuscript and the transcription. Given that the Codex Mashhad involves certain textual variations, the differences between this ancient text and a Qur’ānic text widely recognized in the Islamic world, namely the Cairo Edition of 1342/1924 (also referred to as King Fu’āds edition and al-Muṣḥaf al-Amīrī, 2^nd ed. 1372/1952), are indicated in a separate column. These differences encompass orthographic (rasm), reading (qirāʾa), and verse-numbering variants. Furthermore, obscure or indistinct sections of the text, later additions or corrections, and errors or oversights by the scribe(s) are marked. All these variations are highlighted using distinct colors, and each left-hand-side page includes a color key table.

Thus, the color yellow indicates the absence of a letter or word in the Codex Mashhad that is present in the Cairo Edition in the subsequent position. For example, , the yellow مـ  in أمـنی means that the Cairo Edition has an alif (ا) that comes after this م , as أماني. Similarly, the color green, as in الکتـاب, denotes an extra letter in the Codex Mashhad as compared to the Cairo Edition. Other colors indicate variant readings, corrections, erasures, etc.

In the footnotes, extensive annotations on notable historical, exegetical, and codicological points have been provided. These include orthographic peculiarities (gharāʾib al-rasm), variants in readings (qirāʾāt), regional differences in authoritative Qur’ānic codices (ikhtilāf maṣāḥif al-amṣār), discrepancies in verse enumeration, sūras’ titles, scribal errors, and changes made at the ends or beginnings of sūras in relation to the ordering of the sūras. For certain instances of orthographic anomaly (i.e., ones contravening the standard ‘Uthmānic rasm), the editor has mentioned not only early Muslim scholars’ accounts of those idiosyncrasies, but also similar or dissimilar spellings found in other early ḥijāzī and Kufic Qur’ānic manuscripts from the initial centuries AH.

To order the facsimile edition of Codex Mashhad in Iran:

• Email: codexmashhad@gmail.com
• Phone: +989031982697
• Online sales: Aathar-e Berrar website