Islamic Calligraphy – Beautifully Writing Arabic Alphabet

Islamic Calligraphy is the art of writing Arabic alphabets in a beautiful manner. It’s mastered by those who hold true love of the language and zeal for this art. The word is known in Arabic as khatt which means ‘line’, ‘design’ or ‘construction’. It’s generally employed as an ornamental in writing the Holy Quran. Great care is taken here because one mistake of any sign above or below the alphabets can change the meaning entirely. With special pens used, this art demands great dedication, time and no distractions. With the Quran read and written using calligraphy by Muslims all over the world, it has become the greatest artistic expression in Islamic culture.

            History and Medium

                Calligraphy has been implied in Islamic writing since the early days of Islam. It was used to assist in pronouncing and also to beautify the written Arabic alphabets. The instrument used here is the qalam (pen), a wooden pen, traditionally made from reed or bamboo, which is dipped in ink the right amount of times before writing. As technology advanced, mechanical qalams came into use with refillable ink compartments in them, but as always, the aim was to use whichever suited the calligrapher.

                Calligraphy can be done in any medium given the requirement. For instance, there are several mosques throughout the Muslim world which have Quranic inscriptions inscribed in prominent places like the entrance, exit, and prayer hall, etc. These inscriptions can be on tiles, marble, wall, carpets etc. therefore, it’s applied in a wide range of decorative media other than paper. The Persians, who in the tenth century embraced Islam, started weaving Arabic inscriptions on elaborately patterned silk thus, playing a major role in increasing the value of these inscriptions to a great scale. Coins are also another support for calligraphy; many Muslim countries practice this art on coins.

Styles

        I.            Kufic

As suggested by the name this writing style was developed by the people of Kufa, Iraq around the start of 8^th century. Involving rigid and angular strokes, this is the oldest form of Arabic script. At the start, it consisted of about 17 letters only and that too without the diacritic dots or accents. Later, to assist in more common use and pronunciation, they were added along with more letters. Total number of letters, then rose to 29. The way of writing Arabic alphabet later introduced several varieties. This included floral, foliated, plaited or interlaced, bordered and squared kufi etc.

This was the main script for the copy writing of the Quran from 8^th to the 10^th century. Later, it was used for general purposes as well with the introduction of the more flowing naksh style. It was still used as a decorative element to contrast other styles which added more beauty to the written art. There are really no strict rules for kufic, but rather the writing style varies from individual to individual, varying from very square and rigid forms to flowery and decorative. The basic trait that differentiates it from other styles is the angular, linear shape of the letters.

      II.            Naskh

This new script was developed in the 10^th century. It brought with itself the good definition of cursive. It was the most ubiquitous script of that time, which could be found almost everywhere from Quranic scripts to official decrees and private correspondences.  Therefore, it quickly became the basis of the modern Arabic script. The inventor of this style was Ibn Muqla (886-940 A.D.). He brought about discipline by establishing some rules such as the length of Arabic alphabet Alif was used as the reference for the remaining alphabets; no other alphabet could its length. There are many variations in calligraphic styles and this is no exception. Some of the variations are as follows:

Thuluth-This is mainly used for display purposes which employs the use of long vertical lines with broad spacing.

Riqah-Developed in the 9^th century, it is derived from Thuluth and its parent style Naskh. It is simpler with short strokes and somewhat limited or little flourishes. 

Muhaqqaq-A majestic style which is considered the most difficult to execute, but at the same time the most beautiful. Therefore, it’s executed by none other than the most enthusiastic of calligraphers. 

Regional variations

Nasta’liq

This cursive style originated in Persia in literary and non-Quranic verses. The word ‘Ta’liq’ means ‘hanging’ and it refers to the way the letters are written here; slightly steeped lines of the alphabets giving them a ‘hanging’ appearance. Letters have, however short vertical strokes with broad and sweeping horizontal strokes. The shapes are deep, hook-like with high contrast.

Diwani

                It is a cursive style of Arabic calligraphy developed during the reign of the Turks in the 16^th and early 17^th century. It was invented by Housam Roumi and reached its popularity under the reign of Sultan Suleyman I the magnificent (1520-1566). Spaces between alphabets are usually narrow while the lines ascend upward from right to left. This style further has a style variation dijali which is known for its dense decoration of dots and diacritical marks thus giving it a more compact look. This makes it a bit difficult to read hence it most commonly used for official documents because it was difficult to produce normally and discouraged forgery.

 Sini

                This style originated in China. It can be seen that its major influence comes from the Chinese script. Even the qalam here is replaced by the horsehair brush. A famous calligrapher for this script style is Hajji Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang.