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Lo studio dei manoscritti coranici piu antichi e fondamentale per conoscere la prima diffusione del testo sacro e soprattutto la sua consistenza. In attesa, ormai fin troppo prolungata, di studi sui materiali ritrovati a Sanaa, lo studioso a cui si devono i maggiori contributi sull'argomento e senz'altro Fran50is Deroche. Suo e anche il piu recente saggio esaustivo e completo, nel quale analizza un esempla re manoscritto coranico, conservato tra varie biblioteche, probabilmente risalente alla fine del VII secolo.1 Si tratta della versione, benche incompleta, piu impor tante e antica e per tale ragione Deroche dedica a tale esemplare un'analisi mi nuziosa con un'acribia difficilmente superabile. La questione della storia del ma noscritto di probabile origine egiziana, le differenti (5) mani dei copisti, e le pe culiarita ortografiche di ognuno e nel complesso, rispetto alla versione contem poranea della vulgata di cUtman e ad altri esemplari antichi, sono tutte affronta te con una capacita e un equilibrio convincenti. L'ampia parte in arabo riprodu ce il testo segnalando ovviamente le peculiarita del ductus consonantico e anche cancellature, interventi di vario tipo e peculiarita di ogni genere. Inserito tra le due parti, un consistente apparato di immagini offre riproduzioni del manoscrit to e di altri materiali citati e utilizzati nel saggio. Il prodotto finale di un percor so cosi argomentato e condivisibile e la datazione del manoscritto e alcune fon damentali considerazioni sullo stato del testo coranico attorno all'ultimo quarto del VII secolo. Senza alcuna valutazione polemica e con un argomentare che procede spedito col fermo vincolo documentale e logico, Deroche seppellisce, se ancora ve ne fosse bisogno, le affascinanti interpretazioni di Wansbrough e quel le, piu recenti, che ipotizzano la circolazione di versioni coraniche alquanto di verse da quella Cutmanica. Allo stesso tempo, dimostra come la grafia coranica fu una costruzione progressiva, che nel caso specifico era gia frutto di una trasmis sione scritta del testo, quantunque continuamente rielaborata e perfezionata per almeno due secoli, giungendo a una fissazione non scevra da problemi e inconsi stenze che anche l'edizione cairina, considerata oggi standard, denota. La ricerca sul testo coranico, con lo spettro di ipotesi piu diverse, da quelle che accettano la visione islamica, a quelle piu scettiche, ha conosciuto negli ul timi anni un nuovo vigore. Il volume curato da Manfred S. Kropp e il piu recen

Philological studies on Arabic and Islamic literature have traditionally been limited in many respects. The approaches to the texts and their editing have mostly reflected a primary interest in diffusing texts without sharing the editing methodology or discussing the specific problematic aspects of Arabic. In the realm of Qurʾānic studies most of the research has been devoted to the formation of the text and early manuscript evidence with some significant results but without addressing many other aspects and critical problems which still await the attention of scholarly research. Later manuscript attestations and the history of the printed Qurʾān have also been in general neglected fields of critical research.

The Qur’ān (2:258) mentions a prophet-like figure who was variously interpreted by Islamic exegetical tradition and by Western studies. Some of these interpretations in Islamic literature identify him as Jeremiah and the events alluded to in the Qur’ān as taking place around the city of Jerusalem. Islamic post-Qur’ān literature has elaborated on this, including Jeremiah in the historical prophetical line and depicting him as a prophet who was unsuccessful and had to escape his town before its destruction, brought about by Nebuchadnezzar. Islamic literature added details and narratives to these stories and also in some cases connected Jeremiah to Arab genealogy and lore. Echoes of the biblical book of Jeremiah are also attested to, albeit not in relation to the description of his life and mission given in the Islamic exegetical sources.

Narrative enlargements and exegetical explanations are usually considered at the origin of the so-called isrāʾīliyyāt. With this name early literature recalls traditions and material about biblical stories and Jewish and Christian sacred history, ranging from the creation of Adam to Jesus. Hadith criticism and opinions emerging with Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Kathīr, and from the end of the nineteenth century onwards have raised doubts upon this material and its circulation in Islamic literature. The significance of these reports, spread all over Islamic literary genres, has also prompted discussion relating to their origin and continues to attract studies on the developments of isrāʾīliyyāt throughout medieval times. Along with this, its exegetical relation with the contents of the Qur’an on patriarchs and prophets has attracted attention by Muslim exegetes and Western scholars.

This article focuses on features and peculiarities of the Arabic text of Sūrat al-Kahf in Zechendorff's newly discovered Qur'an manuscript. Zechendorff's work is the result of his efforts to produce a faithful copy of a Muslim Qur'an manuscript, including the text and all the signs such as vocalisation and aids for recitation. On the whole, the sample analysed shows that he carried his work out with care, although some problems with the Qur'an's orthography led to some oversights and mistakes. Some of these are typical lapses in writing but a number of them can also be attributed to limits in knowledge. This is also evident in the case of the aids for recitation added above the line and of the verse divisions, the rules of which were a constant problem for European scholars who had no relevant literature at their disposal. Notwithstanding, Zechendorff's Arabic Qur'an is a significant scholarly achievement the defects of which are mainly due to the lack of sources.