Arabic calligraphy is the artistic practice of

handwriting Handwriting is the writing done with a writing instrument, such as a pen or pencil, in the hand. Handwriting includes both printing and cursive styles and is separate from formal calligraphy or typeface A typeface (or font family) is ...

and calligraphy based on the Arabic alphabet. It is known in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

as ''khatt'' ( ar, خط), derived from the word 'line', 'design', or 'construction'.

Kufic Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...

is the oldest form of the

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and the ...

. From an artistic point of view, Arabic calligraphy has been known and appreciated for its diversity and great potential for development. In fact, it has been linked in the Arabic culture to various fields such as

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, education and craftsmanship, which in return have played an important role in its advancement. Although most

Islamic calligraphy Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the alphabets derived from it. It includes Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, and Urdu calligraphy.Chapman, Caroline (2012). ...

is in Arabic and most Arabic calligraphy is Islamic, the two are not identical.

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

or other

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

manuscripts in Arabic, for example, have made use of calligraphy. Likewise, there is Islamic calligraphy in Persian or the historic Ottoman language.

Arabic alphabet

The Arabic alphabet is known to be used by one of the most widely used language scripts in the world. Many scholars believe that the alphabet was created around the 4th century CE. The alphabet consists of 28 letters written from right to left. Each letter can be written in four ways, depending on where the letter is placed in a sentence. These four locations are also known as initial, medial, final and isolated.

Implements

The pens used for Arabic calligraphy vary from Latin calligraphy. The tools used for calligraphy are different assortments of pens and calligraphy ink. The most common calligraphy pen used is

Qalam A qalam ( ar, قلم) is a type of pen made from a cut, dried reed, used for Islamic calligraphy. The pen is seen as an important symbol of wisdom in Islam, and references the emphasis on knowledge and education within the Islamic tradition. ...

Khamish pen

The Khamish pen also known as a reed pen is used by Arab, Turkish, and Iranian calligraphers. The reed of the pen is grown along rivers. Although this pen has been used for over 500 years, preparing the pen is a lengthy process. hanum

Java pen

The Java pen is known for the tool's hardness and ability to create sharp edges. The pen is good to use for small scripts.

Handam pen

The Handam pen consists of the same strength that the Java pen has. The pen is good to use for all kinds of scripts.

Celi pen

The Celi pen is used for large writing in Arabic calligraphy. These pens are made from hardwood and cut and drilled.

Scripts

Popular scripts

The two most popular scripts used for Arabic calligraphy are

and Naskh. Kūfic was derived from Iraq and initially used for inscription on stone and metal. Naskhī originated from Mecca and Medina. The script is used as a cursive script, for example on papyrus and paper.

Other scripts

The

Thuluth ''Thuluth'' ( ar, ثُلُث, ' or ar, خَطُّ الثُّلُثِ, '; fa, ثلث, ''Sols''; Turkish: ''Sülüs'', from ' "one-third") is a script variety of Islamic calligraphy. The straight angular forms of Kufic were replaced in the new s ...

and

Nasta'liq ''Nastaliq'' (; fa, , ), also romanized as ''Nastaʿlīq'', is one of the main calligraphic hands used to write the Perso-Arabic script in the Persian and Urdu languages, often used also for Ottoman Turkish poetry, rarely for Arabic. ''Nast ...

and

Diwani Diwani is a calligraphic variety of Arabic script, a cursive style developed during the reign of the early Ottoman Turks (16th century - early 17th century). It reached its height of popularity under Süleyman I the Magnificent (1520–1566) ...

script are other scripts used for Arabic scripting. The Thuluth script used during the medieval times is known as one of the oldest scripts to exist. The script was used on mosques and for Quranic text due to the appearance of the text. The Nasta'liq script is used more for Persian than Arabic scripting. Because of the upward slant to the left, the script is seen as different from the other scripts. The cursive look creates an elegant look when creating. The Diwani Script was created during the Ottoman era. The lining and lettering of this script creates a sense of closeness when writing. Due to this reason, it's difficult to read since the letters intertwine.

List of calligraphers

Some classical calligraphers:

Medieval

Ibn Muqla Abu Ali Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Muqla ( ar, أبو علي محمد بن علي ابن مقلة, Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Muqla; 885/6 – 20 July 940/1), commonly known as Ibn Muqla, was an official of the Abbasid Caliphate of Pers ...

(d. 939/940) *

Ibn al-Bawwab Ibn al-Bawwāb (), also known as Ali ibn-Hilal, Abu'l-Hasan, and Ibn al-Sitri, was an Arabic calligrapher and illuminator who lived in Baghdad. He is the figure most associated with the adoption of round script to transcribe the Qur'an. He most ...

(d. 1022) *

Fakhr-un-Nisa Fakhr-un-Nisa Shuhdah Umm Muhammad al-Baghdadiyyah or Shuhdah al-Baghdadiyyah was a scholar, muhaddith and a calligrapher. Shuhdha was called "the calligrapher, the pride of womanhood, a muhaddithah (female of muhaddith) of Iraq with a high Isnad ...

(12th century)

Ottoman era

* Shaykh Hamdullah (1436–1520) *

Hamid Aytaç Hamid Aytaç (pronounced Aytach) (b. 1891, Diyarbakır - d. 18 May 1982) was an Islamic calligraphy, Islamic calligrapher born during Ottoman Empire, Ottoman times. In his later life, he was acknowledged as the Islamic world's leading calligrapher ...

(1891-1982) *

Seyyid Kasim Gubari Seyyid Kasim Gubari of Diyarbakır was a 17th-century Ottoman artist, noted for his poetic writing and calligraphy. He is celebrated as one of the most accomplished calligraphers of his time and decorated a number of important public buildings incl ...

(d. 1624) * Hâfiz Osman (1642–1698) *

Mustafa Râkim Mustafa Râkim ( ota, مصطفى رآقم; Modern Turkish: ''Mustafa Râkım'') (1757–1826), was an Ottoman calligrapher. He extended and reformed Hâfiz Osman's style, placing greater emphasis on technical perfection, which broadened the cal ...

(1757–1826) * Mehmed Shevki Efendi (1829–1887) ;

Contemporary

* Hasan Çelebi (b. 1937), Turkey * Ali Adjalli (b. 1939), Iran *

Wijdan Ali Princess Wijdan Ali ( ar, وجدان علي) (born 29 August 1939 in Baghdad, Iraq) is a Jordanian artist, art historian, educator and diplomat. She is the ex-wife of Prince 'Ali bin Naif of Jordan. She is best known for her efforts to revive the ...

(b. 1939), Jordan * Hashem Muhammad al-Baghdadi, Iraq * Everitte Barbee (b. 1988), United States of America *

Mohammad Hosni Mohammad Hosni, also known as Muhammad Kamal Hosny Al Baba ( ar, محمد حسني البابا), was a Syrian master calligrapher, at the Royal Institute of Calligraphy in Cairo. He was one of the last of the classical calligraphers, who is noted ...

Syria * Shakkir Hassan Al Sa'id (1925-2004) in Iraq *

Madiha Omar Madiha Umar (1908 – 2005 in Aleppo) ( ar, مديحة عمر) was an Iraqi artist who was known for incorporating calligraphy with abstract art. She is generally perceived as the first Arab artist to have done this. Therefore, she is seen as ...

Iraqi-American *

Hassan Massoudy Hassan Massoudy (حسن المسعود الخطاط), born in 1944, is an Iraqi painter and calligrapher, considered by the French writer Michel Tournier as the "greatest living Calligrapher", currently lives in Paris. His work has influenced a gen ...

Iraqi-French (b. 1944) * Sadequain Naqqash (1930-1987), Pakistan * Ibrahim el-Salahi (b. 1930), Sudan * Mouneer Al-Shaarani (b. 1952), Syria * Mahmoud Taha (b. 1942), Jordan * Mohamed Zakariya (b. 1942), United States of America * Uthman Taha (b. 1934), Syria * Shafiq-Uz-Zaman Khan Pakistan

Legacy

Typography

Arabic calligraphy serves as a major source of inspiration for

Arabic typography Arabic typography is the typography of letters, graphemes, characters or text in Arabic script, for example for writing Arabic, Persian, or Urdu. 16th century Arabic typography was a by-product of Latin typography with Syriac and Latin proportio ...

. For example, the Amiri typeface is inspired by the Naskh script used at the Amiri Press in Cairo. The shift from Arabic calligraphy to Arabic typography presents technical challenges, as Arabic is essentially a cursive script with contextual shapes.

Art

EL Seed, a French-Tunisian

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

artist, makes use of Arabic calligraphy in his various art projects, in a style called ''

calligraffiti Calligraffiti is an art form that combines calligraphy, typography, and graffiti. It can be classified as either abstract expressionism or abstract vandalism. It is defined as a visual art that integrates letters into compositions that attempt to ...

''. The ''Hurufiyya'' ( ''letters'') movement, since its beginnings in the early 20th century, uses the artistic manipulation of Arabic calligraphy and typography in abstraction. ''Taking Shape: Abstraction From the Arab World, 1950s-1980s'', a 2020 installation at New York University's

Grey Art Gallery The Grey Art Gallery is New York University’s fine art museum, located on historic Washington Square Park, in New York City's Greenwich Village. As a university art museum, the Grey Art Gallery functions to collect, preserve, study, document, in ...

, explored how Arabic calligraphy, with its ancient presence in visual art, influenced

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th ...

in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

. For

, the Arabic alphabet was a means of expressing a secular identity and appropriating

Western painting The history of Western painting represents a continuous, though disrupted, tradition from classical antiquity, antiquity until the present time. Until the mid-19th century it was primarily concerned with Representational art, representational ...

, while Omar El-Nagdi explored the inherent divinity of Arabic calligraphy.

Modern examples

File:Emirates logo.svg, The

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country * Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir ** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf ** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates * The Emirat ...

logo is written in traditional Arabic calligraphy File:Learning Arabic calligraphy.jpg, The instruments and work of a student calligrapher. The phrase written on the top of the paper shows the Shiite saying "Every day is Ashura and every land is

Karbala Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorat ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Arabic art Arabic orthography Calligraphy