Islamic Art

Taking A Closer Look At Arabic Calligraphy

Published

April 7, 2014

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Safavid Dynasty

After the Abbasid dynasty, the Safavid dynasty (1502 – 1736) was established in Persia and made substantial contributions to Islamic arts and calligraphy. It developed the existing Ta’liq script and produced a more developed version, called Nasta’liq, during the reign of Shah Islma’il and his successor, Shah Tahmasp.

TA’LIQ SCRIPT

The word Ta’liq means “suspension” and was inspired by the shape of the script’s lines, which look hung together. Widely used for a variety of purposes, such as messages, books, letters and poems, the Ta’liq script was formed during the 11th century, was refined during the 13th century in Persia and is still used today.

As mentioned, the words appear hung together and connect to each other, and the letters are rounded and have a lot of curves. While this makes it less legible, the script is often written with a large distance between lines to give more space for the eye to identify letters and words. While the spaces between lines are helpful, they consume the page, which is obviously a disadvantage when space is limited or the text is long.

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NASTA’LIQ SCRIPT

The Nasta’liq is a refined version of the Ta’liq script, although with elements of Naskh. It developed during the 15th century and continued until the 16th century in Persia and Turkey.

Merging the characteristics of both scripts, such as the short vertical lines of Naskh and the long curved horizontal strokes of Ta’liq, it is still used in Persia, India and Pakistan for writing in Persian, Urdu and Punjabi. In terms of legibility, it’s an improvement on the Ta’liq but harder to read than Naskh.

The letters are a little hooked, similar to those of the Ta’liq script, and vary in thickness. Although the arrangement of letters flows smoothly and in harmony, it is hard to write and is less readable than many other scripts. Both the Ta’liq and Nasta’liq scripts have left their mark on Persian art and architecture, and you can easily identify Persian inscriptions by the type of scripts they’re written in.

Example of Nasta’liq (Image source: Wikipedia)

Decorative paper with Nasta’liq (Image source: Wikipedia)

MAGHRIBI SCRIPT

Maghrib refers to the west side of North Africa in the Islamic Empire. This area is distinguished by the Maghribi script, used in writings, inscriptions and monuments. The Maghribi script developed during the 10th century and is still used today in Spain and western North Africa, particularly in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. In this way, the Maghribi script drifted away from the scripts discussed above that developed in the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula.

The Maghribi script is marked by descending lines written with very large bowls and by letters of a unified thicknesses. The special form of its letters gives it a unique beauty and makes it easy to read, even in long text. Because of its decorative appearance, The Maghribi script is suitable for decorations as well as titles.

Verses from the Holy Qur’an written in the Maghribi script (Image source: Wikimedia)

Verses from the Holy Qur’an written in the Maghribi script (Image source: Chester Beatty Library)

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8 Comments

RCHOUDH

April 7, 2014 at 6:39 AM

Mash’Allah nice informative article. Regarding Arabic calligraphy, I once remember reading about how Muslims also created a form of script that combined both Arabic and Chinese calligraphy, which I found to be amazing. It’s really interesting to see how things different aspects of one’s culture can change through time and the influence of other cultures.

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Bader Fatima Hamid

April 7, 2014 at 10:27 AM

JazakAllahu khairan for the wonderful insight of the development of Arabi Calligraphy. Please continue it in more detail in sha’ Allah.

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Abdulkarim

April 8, 2014 at 2:04 AM

Assalamu alaykum,
Mashalllah very nice complication. I remember going to Samarkand, an old historical city in Uzbekistan about 20 years ago and seeing such a wonderful Islamic calligraphy on the ancient Masjids, Madrasahs and other building. Apparently it used to be the centre of Islamic Education. The point is that mashlalah Muslims used to be the on the forefront of the Art, Calligraphy, Design and many other fields.
Anyway, jazkallahu khayran for this article.

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Tasneem Sachee

April 11, 2014 at 6:17 AM

The Fatimid Kufi Script is one of my ABSOLUTE favourites – Thank you for such an informative article on the history of the Arabic script. When I visited Egypt, especially the Jamea-ul-Anwar in Cairo, it was amazing to see the grandeur and beauty of the Kufi script in person. There are so many scripts in Arabic calligraphy the more traditional like Tuluth and the flowing scripts like Deewani, but the geometric beauty of the Kufi script makes it unique giving it an endless modernity in this day and age. Thanks again!

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Tasneem Sachee

April 11, 2014 at 6:49 AM

Also, I’d just like to point out that in this section: “The Fatimid Kufic script appears in the architecture of Bab Al Nasr, a gate built by Babr Al-Jamali..” – The correct name is Badr Al-Jamali – not Babr – thanks!

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Islamic Calligrapher

April 15, 2014 at 5:25 PM

Mashallah Great Post But It Need Some More History ….

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Ali Ahmad

March 11, 2015 at 5:29 AM

i really like this article. i search many time this type of article, thanks for sharing this.
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