#ghubar script

Qur'an scroll, 15th century, Ottoman Turkey

The Qur'an has been written in ghubar script, in such a way that it forms a prayer in the larger thulth script. The Qur'anic text is in black while the surah (chapter) headings are in red. The large text begins with the calling of Allah's blessings on the Prophet Muhammad, followed by the names of the 12 Shi'ite 'Imams and a popular invocation to 'Ali, known as nadi 'aliyyan. This scroll was probably meant for a patron of Shi'a persuasion.

A scholar has proposed a mythical reason for containing text within text - by reading out the larger (also shorter) text, it is as if one has transmitted the entire contents of the Qur'an.