The Role of Calligraphy in the Islamic World

Gina Tangelo
World History I
Joshua Moffatt
May 31, 2016

After the fall of the Rome, many other civilizations developed. Of the civilizations that
developed, arguably one of the most memorable civilizations was the Islamic world. The Islamic
world can be characterized by many empires. All of these empires had unique culture. One of the
most important aspects of culture was art. Calligraphy was undoubtedly the most important

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characteristic of Islamic art. Calligraphy played a huge role in Islamic art since it was the art
most valued and was used in many different ways and forms, for example in architecture. The
height of Islamic art was during the Islamic Renaissance.
Beautiful writing is the Greek origin of the word calligraphy, and Arabic calligraphy
was without a doubt jaw-droppingly beautiful. It was the art and science of writing and
committing to paper different texts, sacred and secular, mostly in Arabic,1 as well as it
contributing to a characteristic feature of Islamic art which was the wide use of Arabic script.2
From the beginning of the Islamic era in 622 CE, calligraphy was said to be the most revered
medium of artistic expression because it was used to interpret the word of Allah. The stylised
letter forms evolved as an art method in order to give visual emphasis to the verses of the
Quran, the revealed Word of Allah.3 Starting from the tenth century, the use of expressions on
objects as diverse as textiles, jewellery, steel, and tilework, as well as buildings, ensured that the
word of Allah was inseparable from everyday life.4 Calligraphy was infinite in Islamic art, no
matter if it was on mosques or palaces or displayed on ceramics.5 Even though it was first a

1 Edward D English, Calligraphy, Islamic, Facts on File. http://online.infobase.com/HRC/Dearch/Details/213502?

q=arabiccalligraphy. 1

2 Oleg Grabar, Islamic Art. World Book Student, http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar282420>.

1-6

3 Juliet Highet, Arabic Calligraphy: The Art of Literacy, ProQuest. http://seach.proquest.com/docview/20636947?

accountid=4037. 45-46

4 Highet, Arabic Calligraphy, 46.

5 Edward D English, Art and Architecture, Islamic. Facts on File.

http://search.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/214379?q=calligraphyinthemedievalislamicworld. 1

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means of expression, a useful tool to convey language in all its richness of flowing arabesque
form and crisp geometric design, it became a spiritual pattern formed by literary tools, as
Islamic sources define it.6 Calligraphy started out as a writing tool and was then transformed into
a beautiful art form.
The writings of calligraphy, in different styles, were beautifully constructed and written.
Sometimes they were combined with floral or geometric designs, but only rarely done with
animal or human figures.7 A number of calligraphic styles for rendering the Arabic language
developed.8 The most common styles included Kufic and Neskhi. Kufic, the formal one and
angular style of the two, received its name from the city of Al Kufah, Iraq, where this type of
writing developed. Islamic scribes used Kufic for writings until the 1100s. They used it for
rewriting the Quran from the late 600s to about 1000. Neskhi was a flowing script that was
sometimes set against a background of arabesque designs. Beginning in the 1100s, Neskhi
calligraphy was more used for writing the Quran. Kufic was only used for chapter headings.
Other, more elaborate writing styles developed especially in Iran and Turkey.9 Another style that
developed was Thuluth, which was an ornamental style of the thirteenth century. Under Iranian
influence the exaggeratedly cursive nastaliq style also developed, and the Ottomans contributed
the diwani style, which closely mixed the letters of each word.10 Each of these styles played a
6 Highet, Arabic Calligraphy, 45.

7 Grabar, Islamic Art, 2.

8 Stokes, Arabs, 6.

9 Grabar, Islamic Art, 2.

10 Stokes, Arabs, 6.

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great role not just in the development of other styles and of the writings of words on objects, but
also contributed to making Islamic art so unique.
Calligraphy, a way to record Gods words in the Quran, was also a central decorative element in
Islamic architecture. Some of the most significant Muslim architecture included mosques, tombs,
forts, and temples.11 Mosques were where the Muslims prayed to Allah, facing the holy city of
Mecca. All the way from the earliest Islamic building, calligraphy was used as a sacred element
to connect the physical space to heaven.12 The writings were usually written geometrically on
portals, on cornices, on domes, and even in corridors. Though the writings had different purposes
and decorations, their meanings used different parts of the building and were typically connected
through symbolic relations.13 Phrases, texts, salutations, and praise were considered so important
that writings might be engraved into very small parts of the building so unavailable that only
God and the birds could reach them.14 Presentation of power, triumph of the new faith, and
emphasis on Islamic theology in early Islamic art were realized through the use of monumental
architectural forms, calligraphy, and ornamental aniconic patterns as the case of the Dome of the

11 Stokes, Arabs, 5.

12 Mohammad Gharipour. Architecture in the Medieval Islamic World. Facts on File.

http://onlineinfobae.com/HRC/Search/Details/225242?q=medievalislamicworld. 1-6

13 Gharipour, Architecture in the Medieval Islamic World 6.

14 Highet, Arabic Calligraphy, 46.

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Rock.15 Calligraphy and architecture tied together, making Islamic art even more unique and
even more beautiful to look at than before.
The Islamic Renaissance, which saw great advances in every field, prompted architects, visual
artists, calligraphers, and artisans of all sorts to collaborate in the production of the vast body of
monuments, masterpieces, and manuscripts.16 Muqarnas is maybe the most distinct and
magnificent architectural decorative element developed by Muslim architects around the tenth
century, at the same time in the eastern Islamic world and North Africa.17 Muqarnas structures,
augmented with the elegant Arabic calligraphy, floral designs, and geometric patterns typically
called arabesque, produced a dazzling visual composition that characterized the beauty of such
places as the interior of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem or the Masjid al-Jamiin in Isfahan,
among other examples.18 During the renaissance, calligraphy was still seen on architecture. This
composition, accentuated by band of the Kufic and Thuluth styles of Arabic calligraphy, added
spiritual and poetic layers to the adorned architecture and objects. The continuous patterns and
repetition of ornaments covering walls and ceilings, going along naves, arcades and arch ways,
echo a rhythmic tone that originated from one pattern and multiplies in endless, complex,
repeated, and variant patterns. It defines the unity in multiplicity of Islamic decorative style. This
attractive visual system was so impressive that some early renaissance artists could not resist
15 Hashim Al-Tawil, Islamic Art and Architecture in the Golden Age Facts on File.
http://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/215404?q=arabiccalligraphy. 1-3

16 Al-Tawil, Islamic Art and Architecture, 2.

17 Al-Tawil, Islamic Art and Architecture, 3.

18 Al-Tawil, Islamic Art and Architecture, 3.

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copying bands of Kufic inscriptions to decorate the clothing of the figure of the Virgin Mary and
other biblical figures and angels in paintings of the period.19 The Islamic Renaissance was a time
period at which Islamic art was at its highest point and calligraphy was an important factor in the
growth of it, so much that even artisans from other empires wanted to copy the art of calligraphy.
Calligraphy had a great impact on Islamic art because it was the art most valued and was used in
different ways. Architecture was a big part of Islamic art and calligraphy influenced architecture.
It was written in different ways so it could look even more beautiful, helping to shape the
architectural factor of art. Calligraphy was a great decorative element that was and still is greatly
valued in Islamic art, leaving an example for the rest of the world to follow.

19 Al-Tawil, Islamic Art and Architecture, 3.

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