Sayyid Ahmad al-Husayni al-'Ashkawari in Fihrist khizanat al...

Sayyid Ahmad al-Husayni al-'Ashkawari in Fihrist khizanat al rawdat al-Haydariyyah, quoting Mawsu'at al-'atabat al-muqaddasah (chapter on Najaf), writes that in the year 755/1354 the shrine of 'Ali (A) was affected by fire in which many rare possessions of the collection were lost including the Qur'an written by 'Ali (A) in three volumes.

On the margin of the manuscript of 'Umdat al-talib present at the library of Astanah-a Quds-e Radawi, there are useful notes written by a librarian of Nassabah named Husayn, which include a description about the Najaf codex. The relevant note says: "The codex seen by al Sayyid al-Naqib (i.e. Ibn 'Inabah al-Hasani Nassabah, author of 'Umdat al-talib) at Najaf still exists in the collection at Najaf.

However, a considerable part of it was burnt and only one volume remained, and that too without the marginal notes since all the margins along with a part of the text were destroyed in the fire." 43 7. The Codex at al-'Imam al-Rida's Shrine Apart from the Qur'an kept on the sarcophagus (dari') at the tomb of 'Ali (A) at Najaf, two more Qur'anic codices exist in the collection at al-'Imam al-Rida's shrine at Mashhad that are attributed to Imam 'Ali (A).

The first bears the number 6 and is kept at the library. It is written in Kufic script on deerskin with the note: "Katabahu 'Ali ibn Abi Talib." On the first page there is a dedication by Shah 'Abbas, the Safawid monarch, in the writing of al-Shaykh al-Bahai and with his signature with the date 1008 H. There, al-Shaykh al-Bahai mentions it as having been written by 'Ali (A). This Qur'an in 68 folios contains a part of the scripture from Surat Hud to the end of Surat al-Kahf.

44 The second Qur'an bears the number 1. Parts of its margins are gone and verses are missing from in between. For instance, between Folios 33 and 34 nearly 79 verses are missing. This Qur'an has been been written on deerskin and has 341 folios comprising the whole Qur'an. It was endowed by Shah 'Abbas in the year 1009/1600 to the shrine.