NEW ADDITION: “Codex Mashhad – An Early Qur'ān In Ibn Masʿūd's Arrangement Of Sūrahs, 1st Century Hijra”. (bit.ly/2P0mPDQ) Manuscript on parchment. Vertical format. This codex was probably produced in the Ḥijāz and brought to Iraq though the exact history is unclear. 
Codex Mashhad has 251 folios = 122 (MS 18, Āstān-i Quds Library, Mashhad) + 129 (MS 4116, Āstān-i Quds Library, Mashhad). The extant folios contain >90% of the text of the Qur'an ignoring the folios that contain a later kufic hand used in emendations (bit.ly/2P0mPDQ).
Written in Ḥijāzī or ḥijāzī-like script. B1a according to the classification of Déroche. Regionality of this codex corresponds closely with Medina. The script in Codex Mashhad (bit.ly/2P0mPDQ) is similar to Codex M a VI 165 (bit.ly/304hmlL) at Tübingen,...
... Codex Arabe 331 (bit.ly/3hDdz4z) at the Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris), and Kodex Wetzstein II 1913 (bit.ly/3geBCGE) at Staatsbibliothek (Berlin). Combined radiocarbon dating of these manuscripts is 1st century of hijra. Discussion👇
The main peculiarity of Codex Mashhad is the order of sūras in which it was originally written and late emended to conform to the traditional ʿUthmānic order. The original arrangement of sūras in this manuscript agrees with that of Ibn Masʿūd's order of sūras.
How did the scribe emend Codex Mashhad written in Ibn Masʿūd's order of sūras to conform with the ʿUthmānic order? Whichever sūra-pair did not match the ʿUthmānic order, the folios containing the respective closing and opening parts of two adjacent sūras were manipulated.
The end of the preceding sūra and/or at the beginning of the following has been rewritten entirely or partially by a later kufic hand. This was achieved by scrapping off the ink from the parchment to use the space.
When required new parchment was used to fill in the parts of sūras, in some cases sūra-headbands were added, and finally sūras were rearranged in accordance with the standard ʿUthmānic sequence.
This process makes Codex Mashhad a partial palimpsest - with the upper text written with a late kufic hand at the beginnings or ends of sūras to conform with the ʿUthmānic sequence and the erased lower texts containing a sequence attributable to Ibn Masʿūd's order of sūras.
This was an extensive cut-and-paste operation.
Now how about those transitions between sūras when Ibn Masʿūd arrangement of sūras matches with ʿUthmān's arrangement? Unsurprisingly, they were left untouched. 👇Sūra Hūd (11) - sūra Yūsuf (12); sūra Sabaʾ (34) to sūra Fāṭir (35).
Now how about those transitions between sūras when Ibn Masʿūd arrangement of sūras matches with ʿUthmān's arrangement? Unsurprisingly, they were left untouched. 👇Sūra Hūd (11) - sūra Yūsuf (12); sūra Sabaʾ (34) to sūra Fāṭir (35).
In other words, when the sūra pairs are identical in both ʿUthmānic and Ibn Masʿūd’s versions, there was no alteration and manipulation done by the emending scribe. In Codex Mashhad, this can be clearly seen for the sequence of the sūra-pairs Hūd / Yūsuf (Q. 11/12),...
.... al-ʿAnkabūt / al-Rūm (Q. 29/30), Sabaʾ / Fāṭir (Q. 34/35), al-Zumar / Ghāfir (Q. 39/40), Fuṣṣilat / al-Shūrā (Q. 41/42), al-Dhāriyāt / al-Ṭūr (Q. 51/52) and al-Mursalāt / al-Nabaʾ (Q. 77/78).
Codex Mashhad (bit.ly/2P0mPDQ) is the earliest manuscript that confirms the arrangement of sūras in the order of Ibn Masʿūd. This evidence is significant as the extant literary evidence for Ibn Masʿūd's arrangement comes from late sources.
Comparison of scripts in the B1a manuscripts.
1. Codex Mashhad (bit.ly/2P0mPDQ) at Mashhad
2. Codex M a VI 165 (bit.ly/304hmlL) at Tübingen
3. Codex Arabe 331 (bit.ly/3hDdz4z) at Paris
4. Kodex Wetzstein II 1913 (bit.ly/3geBCGE) at Berlin
1. Codex Mashhad (bit.ly/2P0mPDQ) at Mashhad
2. Codex M a VI 165 (bit.ly/304hmlL) at Tübingen
3. Codex Arabe 331 (bit.ly/3hDdz4z) at Paris
4. Kodex Wetzstein II 1913 (bit.ly/3geBCGE) at Berlin
