Māyil Script in Ancient Manuscripts (Origin, Scope of Prevalence, Cause of Decline)

Paleography is an important part of manuscript studies that can have a significant role in the estimation of the time and place of writing a manuscript. However, if it is accompanied by an inaccurate belief, the estimation of the time and place of writing some manuscripts will be tainted with incorrect judgments and so, untrue results followed by misconceptions about the history of the noble Qur’an will appear. One of the existing incorrect beliefs has occurred about an ancient script called “Māyil”, which is called by recent researchers as “Ḥijāzī.” Referring to documents, this article shows that the origin of the aforementioned script has been the Levant, and it declined after transference to some other lands, before the end of the first century AH. Findings change the determination of the time and place of writing some manuscripts and prevent the appearance of misconceptions about the history of the noble Qur’an.