Arabic

Calligraphy
‫حسن الخط العربي‬
 The Act of Writing
• In calligraphy the
production of the character
is an artistic act.

• In calligraphy, each
character is treated as a
plastic image to convey
harmony, grace, and
beauty.

• Calligraphic styles have

changed over time and in
relation to different
applications.

Bismilleh pear calligraphy,

wikipedia.org
 The Act of Writing
In calligraphy, each character or word is
treated as an image and must
satisfy three criteria:

1. Communication (semantic) criteria.

It must convey the meaning of the
word it represents.

2. Phonetic criteria. It must represent

the corresponding sounds of letters
it depicts.

3. Aesthetic criteria. A calligraphic

work has its own autonomy and
integrity as a shape in space. It
must meet appropriate artistic
standards.
Calligraphy courtesy of Hassan
Massoudy
(Slides one and three) from
pagesperso-
orange.fr/hassan.massoudy
 Visual Representation
• In Arabic and Persian
calligraphy characters are
sometimes arranged in the
forms of plants or animals.
This produces a visual
message in addition to the
linguistic one.

• In Arabic calligraphy,
characters may be
arranged to satisfy
mathematical criteria,
whose perfect production
may itself carry a message.

Nastaliq Persian Calligraphy,

http://rshamshiri.50megs.com/caligraphy/Persian_Calligraph
.htm
 Directionality
• Most writing is produced in vertical or horizontal
lines.
• Chinese can be written in three directions: left-to-
right, right-to-left, and vertically.
• Arabic and Hebrew are written right-to-left, while
English and other Latin-based systems are written
left-to-right.
• Greek writing could be both left-to-right and right-
to-left and was sometimes both.
• In calligraphy characters may defy the
conventions of direction as long as they do not
compromise comprehension.
• In calligraphy characters are placed in space
according to aesthetic or other criteria.
 Medium

• The medium selected for

writing influences its
appearance.
• Earliest writing may have
been painted on ceramics.
• Written texts can be carved
in stone, as on grave
Photos of
Mauritanian
markers or on buildings, or
school etched in metal.
children with
their wood
• They can be woven into
writing tablets fabric, as in carpet making.
(Allouha). • Written symbols can also be
Children learn
to write and
arranged into slats that
recite the form doors or windows.
Qu’ran in this
way in much of
West Africa.
(Images from
http://www.bourli
ngueurs.com/ma
uritanie/page_09.
htm)
 Arabic

Arabic is one of the most important scripts in the world.

•
It is descended from the early Semitic scripts of western Asia that also lay the basis for Latin and other alphabets.
•
About 950 million people speak Arabic and many more people use its alphabet.
•

Map of Arabic-speaking countries,

 Arabic
• Arabic is written from right to left.

• Arabic is an efficient language with

17 basic consonants.

• Vowels are indicated by markers

above, below, or alongside the
consonant.

• Arabic is generally written in a cursive style with letters linking to

one another.

• There is no upper and lower case in Arabic letters, but there are
rules regarding the form of the letter in relation to it place in the
word.
 Writing and the Word of God

Since the words of the Prophet Muhammed may

only be written in Arabic, the act of writing has
special import in the Islamic world.

A calligrapher may be motivated by spiritual

inspiration. He may use his calligraphy as a
medium to convey the greatness of God.

In Islamic traditions, therefore, calligraphy has

been held in high regard.

Secular calligraphers combine movement of line

with poetic meanings to produce aesthetic
experience.
 Arabic Writing: Passing it On!

Since the words of the Prophet Muhammed

may only be written in Arabic, the Arabic
language has traveled far and wide with the
spread of Islam.
Arabic script is used by languages that are
not Semitic, such as Persian, Urdu,
Indonesian, and others.
These languages have adapted the Arabic
alphabet to meet their own phonetic
requirements.
A Qur’an may have Arabic in the center of
the page, and a local translation, also in
Arabic script but not language, in the
margins.

Handwritten letter in Urdu,

pakistaniat.com
 Arabic calligraphy is the art of
beautiful writing
The Arabic
calligrapher
uses a reed pen
(qalam) with a
point cut on an
angle.

This feature
produces a
thick down
stroke and a
thin upstroke
with an infinity
of gradation in
between. Calligraphy writing implements, wikipedia.org
 Styles
• There are many
different styles of
Arabic Calligraphy. It
can be done on many
different mediums.
• Detailed on the right
are a few classic
examples of the
major styles of Arabic
Calligraphy in the
Islamic world.

Six calligraphic styles, http://www.islamicarchitecture.o

 Materials
• Arabic Calligraphy can be done on many different
mediums.

• The following slides show classic examples of the

major styles of Arabic Calligraphy in the Islamic world.

Images: Emirates Air (left) and Arabic graffiti (right)

 Calligraphy as a Stamp of Authority
Tughra (Imperial Cipher) ca. 1555; Ottoman
Istanbul. Ink, colors, and gold on paper; 20 1/2 x
25 3/8 in. (52.1 x 64.5 cm) Rogers Fund, 1938
(38.149.1) Metropolitan Museum of Art,
www.metmuseum.org.
A calligraphic image may
represent a stamp of authority.
In Ottoman Turkey the tughra
was a calligram that served as an
emblem of the sultan. Not being
easily forged, it was used to
legitimize royal decrees,
bequests, and coins. It indicated
the name of the sultan and his
father, as well as the phrase
"eternally victorious." A special
court artist was required to draw
the tughra calligram. An
illuminator added delicate natural
forms, scroll designs, color, and
gold leaf. From the use of the
first tughra in 1324, the forms
became increasingly ornate and
elaborate. The tughra shown to
the left, which belonged to the
Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent
(1520-566), contains three
vertical shafts and a number of
concentric loops in complex,

Album leaf, 17th century; Ottoman Turkey
Ink, colors, and gold on paper; 9 5/8 x 7 in.
Louis V. Bell Fund, 1967 (67.266.7.8r).
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In a calligram an inscription takes the
form of a flower, bird or other animal,
or, with less frequency, an inanimate
object such as a ship.
Here, the text follows the outline of a
peacock's spread tail feathers.
Praising an unnamed sultan, it reads:
“Beautiful …of angelic character, of
auspicious omen, envy of the perfect
ones, parrot of sweet tongue and
sweet speech, peacock of the garden
of … the lofty decree, sultan of the
sultans of the world, fortunate and
august, khaqan of the shahs, Darius
of the time, Faridun of the age, hero
of the world, [text reverses direction]
champion of earth and time, sultans
of the sultan of the family of Uthman
ibn Sultan Ghazi Khan … may God
extend the days of his [happiness] to
the day of [judgment?].
The script reverses direction half way
 This page of a Qur'an depicts two
types of script:
muhaqqaq in the three lines in
body of the page,
and the kufic script in the upper
and lower margins.

The page was signed by Ahmad

ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri, one of
the six celebrated disciples of
Yaqut al-Musta'simi, a great
master of cursive calligraphy.
The page was illuminated by
Muhammad ibn Aybak. It was
completed in the year 1307–8;
(Ilkhanid period) in Baghdad.

Iraq, Rogers Fund, 1955 (55.44) Metropolitan Museum

of Art www.metmuseum.org.
 This ceramic bowl
from the 9th
century is an early
example of
calligraphy as a
main element in
decorative design.

The Arabic word

ghibta, meaning
happiness, is
repeated in two
cobalt blue lines
in the center of
the bowl against a
neutral slip
Bowl, 9th century; Abbasid period (750–1258) background.
Attributed to Iraq
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1963 (63.159.4)
Metropolitan Museum of Art,
www.metmuseum.org.

Sandstone roundel, early 17th century, India.
Diam. 18 1/2 in. Edward Pearce Casey Fund,
1985 (1985.240.1)
Metropolitan Museum of Art,
www.metmuseum.org.
This sandstone roundel from
the Deccan, (ca. seventeenth
century), shows skill in both
calligraphy and stonework.
The Arabic invocation
Yacaziz, "Oh Mighty!" (one of
the ninety-nine Most
Beautiful Names of God), is
repeated eight times in
mirror juxtaposition in the
thuluth script. An eight-
pointed star emerges from
the shafts of the letter a,
while the z's of caziz,
mirrored and knotted, form a
heart-shaped ornament. The
number eight, aside from its
geometrical qualities, points
also to eternal bliss and the
eight paradises of which the
Islamic tradition speaks, thus
adding yet another level of
meaning. The calligrapher,
although working in Deccan,
India, is thought to be
Persian.
 Metal engraving

This 15th century helmet

bears incised Persian
engravings decorated with
silver. In addition, the
metal is stamped with the
mark of the Ottoman
arsenals, suggesting that it
came into Turkish
possession as war booty.

Helmet, Iran. Steel, engraved and

damascened with silver; Rogers Fund,
1950 (50.87) Metropolitan Museum
of Art, www.metmuseum.org.
 This 13th century Egyptian hanging lamp
bears several kinds of insignia. It shows
entwined bows, symbolizing the Keeper of
the Bow, as it also bears the word for the
Keeper of the bow: bunduqdar.

The inscription, written in the thuluth

style, reads: "That which was made for the
tomb of the noble, the elevated, / the
cAla'i, the Keeper of the Bow, / may Allah
sanctify his soul."

An inscription on the lamp indicates that it

was made for the tomb of the Mamluk
emir Aydakin al-cAla'i al-Bunduqdar who
died in the 1285.

The neck of the lamp shows an unusual

mistake -- as the calligrapher misspelled
the word bunduqdar to read bunqud-dar.
Mosque lamp (ca. 1285) Mamluk, Egypt.
Brownish colorless glass, free-blown, enameled, gilded,
and stained; tooled on the pontil; H. 10 3/8 in., Max.
Diam. 8 1/4 in.
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.985)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org.
Data and images provided with the
courtesy of

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (

http://www.metmuseum.org)
Hassan Massoudy (http://pagesperso-
orange.fr/hassan.massoudy/)

Christina Campbell and Janet Chernela

University of Maryland