Head of the Organization of Documents and National Library of Iran said at the unveiling ceremony for fine handwritten Qurans that “At the moment more than 2000 handwritten Qurans are kept at the National Library of Iran and now 14 complete scripts and 9 manuscripts in need of repair are exhibited in National Library’s Exhibition.

IBNA: The media session for unveiling dedicated and purchased handwritten Qurans of the National Library was held Wednesday morning, 20 Mordad, at Manuscripts Hall of the National Library in presence of Ali Akbar Ash’ari, head of the Organization of Documents and National Library of Iran.

At the beginning, Ali Akbar Ash’ari mentioned four years ago, there were 17 thousand manuscripts and 15 thousand lithographed copies at the National Library and this number has now reached to 33 thousand manuscripts and 33 thousand lithographed books.

He then suggested, “Considering the difficulty of keeping old manuscripts at home and their exposure to danger, it is a good idea to ask the public to present their scripts to the National Library. The National Library’s Documents Clinic can identify and treat more than 70 types of paper and common diseases between man and paper.

Ash’ari reminded, “People can dedicate and register works under their own names or agree on sale or consignment at the National Library to preserve their works from decay. Therefore, considering the proper conditions of the National Library’s Magazine, books will be kept safe.”

He said people had a good reaction to dedication or sale of manuscripts; “At the moment, the oldest script consists of handwritten pages of Quran attributed to Imam Reza under the title of ‘Al-Ekhlass’ which is a Persian-Arabic dictionary of the 5th century that is now kept at the National Library. Also, the finest Quran belongs to the deceased Zeinolabedin Qazvini which was purchased two years ago by the National Library.”

Regarding the Quran exhibitions he explained, “Since last Ramazan, 4 thousand and 67 manuscripts have been purchased or dedicated among which there are 98 Quran scripts and 62 scripts have been dedicated and each script has unique qualities.”

He declared the unveiling ceremony of Nahjolbalagha will be held on Qadr nights at the National Library and said “This is the oldest Nahjolbalagha with unique features as it is complete and definitely written in 521 A.H.”

Ash’ari emphasized that some of these scripts are dedicated or sold by Iranians abroad and said, “The existence of such scripts reveals the expansiveness of Iran in ancient times and its interrelations with other countries particularly with the court of India.”

He continued, “Considering long-term programs of the National Library of Iran within 4-year spans of time, the essential role of the national library in the field of internal and foreign research is revealed. One such program is the National Library’s preparation for cooperation with other experts and centers in Iran as well as the world of Islam and others.”

The president’s cultural counselor referred to the limited governmental budget for purchasing fine scripts said “At the moment, there are superb albums of Iranian figures, arts and calligraphy at the National Library which need to get published. These are works on medicine, astronomy, philosophy and Words, yet it is postponed to the future due to lack of financial sources.”

He then emphasized upon the necessity to publish and propagate works of the preceding figures and stated, “Now many fine religious works are published, but there is no good print of Sahifa Sajadia at hand.”

Ash’ari finally said, “At this exhibition, 14 full-text Qurans and 9 partial scripts are exhibited. Also, the oldest Quran script belonging to late Teimouri period is being presented.”

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