This Qur’an is incomplete—with pages missing from Al-Fatihah and some from Surat al-Baqarah. The illumination is done in various colours and in gold. The designs feature motifs with heavy Chinese influence, typical of objects made from north coast of Java, especially from Cirebon.Although it is not quite clear when Islam first arrived in Southeast Asia, it first made significant impact on some Southeast Asian societies during the 14th- 15th centuries. Many of the first Southeast Asian communities which adopted Islam were coastal trading areas, such as Cirebon. For Muslims, the Qur'an is the visual embodiment of the Word of God and is hence considered sacred. The pious desire to beautify the Word of God was a central factor in the development of calligraphy in the Islamic world.
