Study of the Structure and Layout of the OpeningPages of the Holy Quran from the 5th to the 12thCenturies of the Hegira

The arts of book owe theirprogress and development to the high status of the holy Quran and its authority for the Muslims. Following the advent of Islam in Iran, inscription and ornamentation of the Quranic pages gained an especial significance and the richest ornamentations and proportions appeared in the first pages of Quran manuscripts.Page layout is one of the dependent and significant arts of the book and Quran inscriptionwhich establishes a proportionate relationship between the components of a page. In this research the page layout principles in the opening pages of Quran manuscripts from the 5th to the 12th Centuries of the Hegira were studied to better identify the masterpieces of the Islamic art.The results of the research showed there are similar roots in divisions, proportions and compositions of the opening pages of Quran manuscripts from these periods which confirm that thelayout traditions and achievements have been passed on. The opening pages of Quran manuscriptswere significant in followingharmonious and golden ratios, logical divisions and arrangements of the elements and using the possibilities of inscription and free spaces in organizing the pages.They were designed based ona geometric model. This paperwas conducted usingdescriptive- analytical method, based on library sources and observation of thecollectedsamples.