Calligraphy

The rise of the Arab art of calligraphy was an act of genius realized by the Islamic faith. It was remarkable that, within a short period of time, there developed out of the simple unsophisticated scripts of central Arabia magnificent forms of calligraphy which stand today as a great and universally acclaimed artistic tradition. The Arabic scripts, in their early days, just prior to Islam, were rudimentary in character, partly derived from the earlier Nabataean scripts of the semi settled Arabs of Northern Arabia. But with the rise of Islam and the necessity to record the Holy Qur’an in clear and readable text, the Arabic scripts developed into what are now considered the two most important classical styles of calligraphy: Kufic and Naskh.

The Kufic script is generally defined as the stiff; angular sometimes stretched script used first in the recording of early Holy Qur’ans while Naskh refers to the rounded cursive script used for letters and business correspondence and wherever speed rather than elaborate formalism was required. Kufic and Naskh are broad generic terms covering a plethora of magnificent styles in Arabic Calligraphy, and are not, of course entirely inclusive of the numerous variations and nuances of the different styles of scripts, some of which were of key importance in the establishment of the classical trends and styles in the noble art of Arabic calligraphy. Visit the Manuscript Gallery.