Like many items in the exhibit focused on the Muslim holy book, these pages come with a story — this one involving the feared nomadic conqueror, Timur, who ruled a huge empire based in central Asia. While the feat of creating a tiny Quran likely required more skill, it is amazing that the calligrapher had the "bravery to attempt something like this," said Massumeh Farhad, chief curator at the Sackler and Freer and curator of Islamic art. The show brings together manuscripts and folios from the museum in Istanbul with manuscripts from the collection of the Sackler and Freer Gallery of Art, which together form the Smithsonian's Asian art museum.