al-Tafsīr bi al-ṣūra : visual exegesis and the qur’ānic–image nexus in the Persian illustrated manuscript of Isḥāq Ibn Ibrāhīm al-nishāpūrī’s qiṣaṣ al-‘anbiyā’ (ms. 18576 British Library)

Abstract

The integration of exegesis and art is not a recent development; the incorporation of Qur’ānic discourse into artistic forms has long been practiced, particularly during the Islamic dynastic periods. One notable manifestation of this is the emergence of illustrated manuscripts in the Persian world, in which classical Qur’ānic stories were adapted into richly illuminated texts containing Qur’ānic verses, narrative prose, and visual depictions. This study investigates the historical moment and conditions under which Qiṣaṣ al- ‘Anbiyāʾ became visually illustrated, the extent of integration among verse, narrative, and image, and the degree to which illustrations may operate as tafsīr or exegetical agents. To address these questions, the study adopts a qualitative approach by combining semiotic and linguistic analysis in examining al-Nīshāpūrī’s Qiṣaṣ al-‘Anbiyā’ (Add Ms. 18576), with a specific limitation on Ibrāhīm’s attempted sacrifice of Ismā'īl's narrative. It draws on Tzvetan Todorov’s narrative theory and Roland Barthes’s two-order semiotics, while also incorporating supplementary frameworks such as W.J.T. Mitchell’s theory of images as quasi-objects and Kress and van Leeuwen’s model of information value (Given and New). The findings suggest that the genre of illustrated Qiṣaṣ al-‘Anbiyāʾ manuscripts began to flourish and be mass-produced during the 16th century, following a long and multifaceted process of development. Within these manuscripts, the internal integration of Qur’ānic verses, prose narratives, and illustrations reveals a coherent structural and semantic relationship. Illustrations, in particular, are shown to function not merely as decorative elements but as visual exegetes, interpreting and expanding upon Qur’ānic narratives. They operate both alongside textual narratives and in the absence of Qur’ānic verses, filling exegetical silences and serving as anchoring devices that convey theological and narrative meaning.