A Digital Qur`anic Illumination Based on The Frontispiece of a Qur`an Endowed By Sultan Sha`ban.

By Tarek Ghanem, Ahmad Maher IOL Staff 

CAIRO, October 4 (IslamOnline.net) – An Islamic calligraphic organization is to unveil a digitized and illuminated version of the Noble Qur’an dating back to the Mamluk era on the sidelines of the Frankfurt Book Fair, due to open Tuesday, October 5.

The Liechtenstein-based Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation (TIF) will display on Wednesday, October 6, 24 priceless pages of Mamluk masterpieces of the Noble Qur’an in a splendid digital form for the first time ever.

The project is done in cooperation with the Germany-based TRADIGITAL Corporation of electronic publishing and Conservation Technologies.

Egyptian Mufti Sheikh Ali Gomaa will unroll the treasure, which is expected to steal the limelight at hall 6.1 in the Arab pavilion, the fair’s largest.

"This project comes to light after three years of hard work," Noha Abu Khatwa, Islamic Art Director at TRADIDGITAL, told a press conference Monday, October 3, in Cairo.

The digital illuminations are based on selected Mamluk manuscripts from the Cairo-based Dar Al-Kutub (the National Library), TRADIGITAL said in a press release sent to IslamOnline.net.

The digital form allows varieties in design with unlimited artistic possibilities.

The manuscripts are digitized with the latest technologies in typesetting and printing to make them available world-wide on CDs and on the Internet.

The plates are printed by Yom Art Printin, South Korea, the missive added.

The TIF, a non-profit organization, is also to disclose the long-awaited edition of Dr. Martin Ling’ publication "Spelendrous of Qur’an Calligraphy and Illumination" in the much-celebrated book fair.

Ling displays dozens of superb digital photo reproductions of Mamluk masterpieces.

Prince Charles of Wales wrote the forward of his book hoping that "these plates may help to revive the sacred art of illumination so that it may accompany once again the art of Qur’an calligraphy".

The Arab world will be the guest of honor of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, which is the global publishing industry’s biggest gathering.

The 56th annual event serves as a platform for the Arab World to present its cultures and literatures to the international community, and aims to promote and facilitate a dialogue between the West and Arabs.

Rahma Bavelaar also contributed to this report.